Thursday, July 29, 2004
THINKING CAP
I've had my thinking cap on lately trying to figure how to explain why The MasterList matrix is uniquely attractive to elite professionals and why it would make a great web-based VIDA.
Here's some thoughts.
Let's begin with Deixis, Deictic Space, Ideas as Objects, To-dos as Ideas, and complexity landscapes as configurations for organizing a deictic field of intellectual objects such as those which comprise The MasterList matrix. Oh yes, The MasterList is underpinned by a very complex theory which operates by design, and through a simplified complexity resolution system, to yield a method that binds the objects of the matrix, including to-do text notations, and provides focus and direction. In other words, The MasterList represents a way to achieve position and mental orientation for all that concerns anyone who uses it so that it can be handled as an organized deictic field of action. Maybe we can keep game theory out of this and playfulness. But, I think not. Because once we toss in the idea of a focal position of observation or perspective called Origo, meaning the deictic point of view of the actor, agent, ego, in other words - YOU - looking out over the universe, chaos, which comprises your daily concerns, you have a description of a deictic Field of Action.
We have built it. Will you come? The MasterList is text driven, but conceptually could be graphed out as a baseball diamond, with you at home plate attempting to get things done in a metaverse of multiple ball diamonds, each a project, all focusing off the same Origo (You) so that you can handle your metaverse (that's physical universe + all ideas, including plans, goals, and to-dos) in a quantum, ambient reality that surrounds you, faces you, and impinges on you in 360 degrees, spherically, to the 360th.
What's really going to grab you is that when you design it right you not only get to manage your metaverse, but you can co-manage shared metaverses as teams where there is permission overlap, and you can manage your own metaverse here and there (remotely) when and if The MasterList matrix is adopted to become a VIDA. (Are you listening Venture Capitalists?)
So, some background. It's no secret that I studied linguistics and semantics with Dr. Julian Boyd at The University of California at Berkeley and that much of what The MasterList draws on is the foundation he gave me in how knowledge works and how actors/agents (that's you and me) inter-relate with the world at a fundamental level. There is nothing more fundamental about knowledge than the study of how its symbolic notation as language relates to action. Studying how we utilize language to act in and upon the world, the universe, the metaverse, has led inexorably to my design of The MasterList matrix.
No surprise then that our best and most avid users, although not necessarily theorists, are elite professionals who "get it" and see how it helps them cut through the metaverse to achieve goals by connecting intellectual objects, such as to-dos, as projects laid out in a matrix which represents a deictic field. Having complex needs, they understand what the system is doing for them. Intuitively perhaps, but with great enthusiasm. We have great users!
So, if you are an elite professional, I hope that I have whet your appetite for The MasterList as it is. And, if you are a Venture Capitalist, or key management with a major internet player, I hope I have caused you to wonder how our matrix might apply as a web-based VIDA that is not only the most profitable model imaginable for the web, but also the simplest and most helpful. This model really has the potential to positively impact the widest imaginable base of users who conciously, or unconciously, are looking for a universal tool to help them get things done.
And, we all know, there's a lot to be done. We can't sit passively by hoping for the best.
OK. That's the intro to the theory behind The MasterList. I won't keep you hanging. In successive blogs, I intend to define my terms and show you how it all works practically, not just theoretically. I'm talking to you elite professionals who seem to be my customer base, to help ramp you up and get you flowing with the product as it is. But, as stated, we are looking for help on the VC side to take The MasterList matrix web-based as VIDA.
Hope to hear from you. Email me!
I've had my thinking cap on lately trying to figure how to explain why The MasterList matrix is uniquely attractive to elite professionals and why it would make a great web-based VIDA.
Here's some thoughts.
Let's begin with Deixis, Deictic Space, Ideas as Objects, To-dos as Ideas, and complexity landscapes as configurations for organizing a deictic field of intellectual objects such as those which comprise The MasterList matrix. Oh yes, The MasterList is underpinned by a very complex theory which operates by design, and through a simplified complexity resolution system, to yield a method that binds the objects of the matrix, including to-do text notations, and provides focus and direction. In other words, The MasterList represents a way to achieve position and mental orientation for all that concerns anyone who uses it so that it can be handled as an organized deictic field of action. Maybe we can keep game theory out of this and playfulness. But, I think not. Because once we toss in the idea of a focal position of observation or perspective called Origo, meaning the deictic point of view of the actor, agent, ego, in other words - YOU - looking out over the universe, chaos, which comprises your daily concerns, you have a description of a deictic Field of Action.
We have built it. Will you come? The MasterList is text driven, but conceptually could be graphed out as a baseball diamond, with you at home plate attempting to get things done in a metaverse of multiple ball diamonds, each a project, all focusing off the same Origo (You) so that you can handle your metaverse (that's physical universe + all ideas, including plans, goals, and to-dos) in a quantum, ambient reality that surrounds you, faces you, and impinges on you in 360 degrees, spherically, to the 360th.
What's really going to grab you is that when you design it right you not only get to manage your metaverse, but you can co-manage shared metaverses as teams where there is permission overlap, and you can manage your own metaverse here and there (remotely) when and if The MasterList matrix is adopted to become a VIDA. (Are you listening Venture Capitalists?)
So, some background. It's no secret that I studied linguistics and semantics with Dr. Julian Boyd at The University of California at Berkeley and that much of what The MasterList draws on is the foundation he gave me in how knowledge works and how actors/agents (that's you and me) inter-relate with the world at a fundamental level. There is nothing more fundamental about knowledge than the study of how its symbolic notation as language relates to action. Studying how we utilize language to act in and upon the world, the universe, the metaverse, has led inexorably to my design of The MasterList matrix.
No surprise then that our best and most avid users, although not necessarily theorists, are elite professionals who "get it" and see how it helps them cut through the metaverse to achieve goals by connecting intellectual objects, such as to-dos, as projects laid out in a matrix which represents a deictic field. Having complex needs, they understand what the system is doing for them. Intuitively perhaps, but with great enthusiasm. We have great users!
So, if you are an elite professional, I hope that I have whet your appetite for The MasterList as it is. And, if you are a Venture Capitalist, or key management with a major internet player, I hope I have caused you to wonder how our matrix might apply as a web-based VIDA that is not only the most profitable model imaginable for the web, but also the simplest and most helpful. This model really has the potential to positively impact the widest imaginable base of users who conciously, or unconciously, are looking for a universal tool to help them get things done.
And, we all know, there's a lot to be done. We can't sit passively by hoping for the best.
OK. That's the intro to the theory behind The MasterList. I won't keep you hanging. In successive blogs, I intend to define my terms and show you how it all works practically, not just theoretically. I'm talking to you elite professionals who seem to be my customer base, to help ramp you up and get you flowing with the product as it is. But, as stated, we are looking for help on the VC side to take The MasterList matrix web-based as VIDA.
Hope to hear from you. Email me!
Friday, July 23, 2004
QUESTION: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MASTERLIST AND VIDA?
The MasterList is a LAN-based software system for connecting 6 data spokes relating to knowledge about anything through the centering concept of a project. The 6 spokes are to-do, calendar, contacts, email, internet links, PC/LAN file links. The to-do component is what makes the project-orientation happen. Collected knowledge relevant to action is a project. To-dos drive action and, accordingly, projects and project knowledge are easily clustered around the magnetic attraction of the to-do items. It's the simplest and most elegant design for collecting knowledge with action in mind.
VIDA is The MasterList web-based, with a new skin (or skins) providing the identical matrix as the lan-based version, and incorporating some of the special tools we have evolved in the lan-based version that take advantage of our knowledge or how our design works with real-world users who have given us feedback about how they use the system. The big difference is that a web-based database can provide ubiquity. Meaning simply, that because the database can point you anywhere anytime to where all your 6-spoke data and links are, you can see them seamlessly at your Dashboard screen, generically, or at separate project screens, specially. Not only can you see your data and links across the web from any location or any PC device, you can share the 6 spokes of your VIDA globally by creating teams with rights to all of it or some of it as you prefer.
QUESTION: WHAT DOES VIDA STAND FOR?
VIDA means "life". But, yes it is an acronym for our technology which we call a Virtual Integrative Desktop Application. It's integrative, as described in Q1, and virtual by reason of being web-based.
The MasterList is a LAN-based software system for connecting 6 data spokes relating to knowledge about anything through the centering concept of a project. The 6 spokes are to-do, calendar, contacts, email, internet links, PC/LAN file links. The to-do component is what makes the project-orientation happen. Collected knowledge relevant to action is a project. To-dos drive action and, accordingly, projects and project knowledge are easily clustered around the magnetic attraction of the to-do items. It's the simplest and most elegant design for collecting knowledge with action in mind.
VIDA is The MasterList web-based, with a new skin (or skins) providing the identical matrix as the lan-based version, and incorporating some of the special tools we have evolved in the lan-based version that take advantage of our knowledge or how our design works with real-world users who have given us feedback about how they use the system. The big difference is that a web-based database can provide ubiquity. Meaning simply, that because the database can point you anywhere anytime to where all your 6-spoke data and links are, you can see them seamlessly at your Dashboard screen, generically, or at separate project screens, specially. Not only can you see your data and links across the web from any location or any PC device, you can share the 6 spokes of your VIDA globally by creating teams with rights to all of it or some of it as you prefer.
QUESTION: WHAT DOES VIDA STAND FOR?
VIDA means "life". But, yes it is an acronym for our technology which we call a Virtual Integrative Desktop Application. It's integrative, as described in Q1, and virtual by reason of being web-based.
Saturday, July 17, 2004
THE MASTERLIST MATRIX
6 spokes surrounding a hub.
The hub is the project.
The 6 spokes are calendar, to-do list, contacts, email, URL links, PC/LAN file links.
The to-do spoke is the center-pole or umbrella handle that holds it all together.
We coined the term IDA (Integrative Desktop Application) for this.
We are in the process of going web-based. See 6 spokes anytime, anywhere.
We have coined this term for the web-based version: VIDA (Virtual Integrative Desktop Application).
Stay tuned.
6 spokes surrounding a hub.
The hub is the project.
The 6 spokes are calendar, to-do list, contacts, email, URL links, PC/LAN file links.
The to-do spoke is the center-pole or umbrella handle that holds it all together.
We coined the term IDA (Integrative Desktop Application) for this.
We are in the process of going web-based. See 6 spokes anytime, anywhere.
We have coined this term for the web-based version: VIDA (Virtual Integrative Desktop Application).
Stay tuned.
Friday, July 16, 2004
PROSPECTUS: VIDA
VIRTUAL INTEGRATIVE DESKTOP APPLICATION
On February 26, 2004, I wrote that The MasterList was going for Venture Capital this year so that we could fan out and give users a competitive edge on the global playing field.
On May 23, 2004,I defined the 6 realms of computer organization that The MasterList brings together in one package, we call an IDA (Integrative Desktop Application). "The following can be regarded as the most important elements of organizing data with a computer: - (1) The calendar. (2) The to-do list. (3) Contacts. (4) Email. (5) Internet Links. (6) PC and LAN file links. I call these the 6 Realms of Computer Organization."
The process has now begun. On June 23, 2004 we separately corresponded to the CEO and 8 officers of one of the world's greatest search engines to propose a partnership:
"The MasterList is an integrative to-do system that pulls together to-do’s, calendar entries, contacts, links and files as projects. Customers keep asking if The MasterList could be web-based so they can see their to-do’s and linked data anywhere, anytime."
What is unique about the design of The MasterList and will remain so in its web-based version is that it is integrative, not merely integrated. This is, in essence, "the way" it brings the 6 realms of computer organization into a simple fabric of whole cloth. Indeed, our web-based version will allow you to see all aspects of everything at one screen, either altogether, or broken out on unique project screens, with a click or toggle.
The MasterList remains unique. We are really pumped up about a web-based version! The world has been waiting for a program that frees them from their PC-bound desktop suites and provides them with ubiquity. Our plan is to deliver it.
Our plan in the next several months is to follow our customers' wishes and go web-based. We will be approaching the world's major internet players with VIDA, Virtual Integrative Desktop Application, our web-based version that pulls together the 6 realms of computer organization from a web-database so that you can see all 6 realms of your computerized data, anytime, anywhere, exactly as we have spelled out the vision on a project-centric basis.
Our code name for this project is VIDA. Just as we coined the never-before used term "integrative desktop application" to describe our unique pathbreaking paradigm, so we are now coining the term "virtual integrative desktop application" for our first-of-a-kind step forward onto a web-based platform.
We will be talking to major internet players to partner with in a combination that will bring our unique paradigm together with a global brand name. On a parallel track, we will be talking to venture capitalists. In other words, we are prepared to build it on our own.
Taking The MasterList web-based is a major undertaking. We are crossing our fingers on finding the right partners to help us. We will keep you posted.
VIRTUAL INTEGRATIVE DESKTOP APPLICATION
On February 26, 2004, I wrote that The MasterList was going for Venture Capital this year so that we could fan out and give users a competitive edge on the global playing field.
On May 23, 2004,I defined the 6 realms of computer organization that The MasterList brings together in one package, we call an IDA (Integrative Desktop Application). "The following can be regarded as the most important elements of organizing data with a computer: - (1) The calendar. (2) The to-do list. (3) Contacts. (4) Email. (5) Internet Links. (6) PC and LAN file links. I call these the 6 Realms of Computer Organization."
The process has now begun. On June 23, 2004 we separately corresponded to the CEO and 8 officers of one of the world's greatest search engines to propose a partnership:
"The MasterList is an integrative to-do system that pulls together to-do’s, calendar entries, contacts, links and files as projects. Customers keep asking if The MasterList could be web-based so they can see their to-do’s and linked data anywhere, anytime."
What is unique about the design of The MasterList and will remain so in its web-based version is that it is integrative, not merely integrated. This is, in essence, "the way" it brings the 6 realms of computer organization into a simple fabric of whole cloth. Indeed, our web-based version will allow you to see all aspects of everything at one screen, either altogether, or broken out on unique project screens, with a click or toggle.
The MasterList remains unique. We are really pumped up about a web-based version! The world has been waiting for a program that frees them from their PC-bound desktop suites and provides them with ubiquity. Our plan is to deliver it.
Our plan in the next several months is to follow our customers' wishes and go web-based. We will be approaching the world's major internet players with VIDA, Virtual Integrative Desktop Application, our web-based version that pulls together the 6 realms of computer organization from a web-database so that you can see all 6 realms of your computerized data, anytime, anywhere, exactly as we have spelled out the vision on a project-centric basis.
Our code name for this project is VIDA. Just as we coined the never-before used term "integrative desktop application" to describe our unique pathbreaking paradigm, so we are now coining the term "virtual integrative desktop application" for our first-of-a-kind step forward onto a web-based platform.
We will be talking to major internet players to partner with in a combination that will bring our unique paradigm together with a global brand name. On a parallel track, we will be talking to venture capitalists. In other words, we are prepared to build it on our own.
Taking The MasterList web-based is a major undertaking. We are crossing our fingers on finding the right partners to help us. We will keep you posted.
Sunday, July 04, 2004
SET THEORY
Set theory is genetically embedded in us going back about 25,000 years at least. Set theory is how we organize by relation, identity, complement, and intersection. If we don’t have sets -bins, closets, folders, projects, boxes, and drawers - all we have is infinity. If it’s not organized, it’s chaos. Sets are conceptual boxes.
The secret of The MasterList paradigm is that it treats a to-do, or task, as a data object just like a file, a doc, a URL, a contact, or an email. The result is an organizational system that arises almost naturally from the operational decision to relate any object in the PC/LAN/WWW environment to any other object, or “set” of objects, as a “project”. The to-do is the object that applies the centering principle. The "project" is the primary conceptual box. The to-do list is the center focus of the dashboard or control panel, kind of like the steering wheel that puts the spin on the assemblage to give it not only the structure of a project, but a direction.
A project is not just about linking related objects together. It's about going somewhere.
Outlook passively integrates 4 components together into a single program or suite. It integrates tools, not data.
Thus, data in Outlook is "there". It just has no direction. A program, such as The MasterList, that is integrative allows users to make organizing decisions by reason of identity, relation, complement, or intersection. An integrative program is active in that the user calls the shots on organizing the data necessary to that user’s interests and goals, and to provide direction.
The to-do list kind of creeps up on you as the centering principle once you realize that of all the objects that you can link together to create a "master set" called a "project", the to-dos, or tasks, are the objects that provide the direction. Therefore, The MasterList is.
Set theory is genetically embedded in us going back about 25,000 years at least. Set theory is how we organize by relation, identity, complement, and intersection. If we don’t have sets -bins, closets, folders, projects, boxes, and drawers - all we have is infinity. If it’s not organized, it’s chaos. Sets are conceptual boxes.
The secret of The MasterList paradigm is that it treats a to-do, or task, as a data object just like a file, a doc, a URL, a contact, or an email. The result is an organizational system that arises almost naturally from the operational decision to relate any object in the PC/LAN/WWW environment to any other object, or “set” of objects, as a “project”. The to-do is the object that applies the centering principle. The "project" is the primary conceptual box. The to-do list is the center focus of the dashboard or control panel, kind of like the steering wheel that puts the spin on the assemblage to give it not only the structure of a project, but a direction.
A project is not just about linking related objects together. It's about going somewhere.
Outlook passively integrates 4 components together into a single program or suite. It integrates tools, not data.
Thus, data in Outlook is "there". It just has no direction. A program, such as The MasterList, that is integrative allows users to make organizing decisions by reason of identity, relation, complement, or intersection. An integrative program is active in that the user calls the shots on organizing the data necessary to that user’s interests and goals, and to provide direction.
The to-do list kind of creeps up on you as the centering principle once you realize that of all the objects that you can link together to create a "master set" called a "project", the to-dos, or tasks, are the objects that provide the direction. Therefore, The MasterList is.
