Bob's demo GrowSense system in action

[John JR]

I've recorded some videos of Bob's demo GrowSense system in action and posted them here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=19KZhJCHWrQ-d0fAT4xKZE_mP8SXjEf9q

A hand held camera phone doesn't produce the best videos but it shows some of the more important functionality that the GrowSense system provides.

It has no soil in it because it needs to be shipped through the post and I don't want to have to clean the soil out of it.

I'll look into posting it tomorrow. I just need to figure out how to pack it and wrap it up so it can't get broken in transit.

Cheers,

John

[Tiberius Brastaviceanu]

Hi John. 

I understand that these videos shows control of different things. But it is hard to use them as tutorials. Also they are just little pieces, don't tell the whole story. 

I could try to put them all together and have a voice over, produce a video that can also be published on social media, posted on the website. I wonder if they are sufficient for a walkthrough video. 

I suggest you make yourself a script before, write stuff down as if you are doing a demo. After, spend a bit more time with the camera on important features, make sure they are visible and clear. You can shoot videos like that, ne them, and put the names on the script. Someone like me can take the script and make a edit the whole video. 

In other words, if you don't lile to make videos, you can capture videos in a way that someone can do the rest of the work. 

If you want to start making videos, I am maintaining a howto doc here. Also feel free to improve.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ntISqDoc799RnaxHB0OcFlxtYME3Xf-9IoMPsrg_ED4/edit?usp=drivesdk

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[John JR]

Good ideas Tibi. I would like to make more professional looking videos but that's a skill set I'm yet to learn.

My focus atm has been perfecting the system and trying to get the first few systems out to early adopters to thoroughly test.

These videos were just to basically provide the system works, without spending too much time on it.

But yeah I agree that I should learn to make some higher quality videos.

I need to get a new holder for my phone to go on the tripod so it's more stable. I did have one but must have misplaced it.

Ideally I should have a proper video camera which would be clearer, focus better, etc.

Maybe we could write up a sequence/script of what functionality would be good to see in a video. Then I go through and create videos covering each of those. That way we can edit it all together into a video which flows as a complete walkthrough.

I'm hoping soon I'll get a chance to tidy up my 2 live systems so they look nicer, and be able to use them for videos. That way the videos are showing off systems which look more ornamental, and the type of thing people might actually want to have installed in their home or office.

3D printed cases would help a lot with tidying up the electronics.

I've also built the first weatherproof GrowSense system (I still need to test it and post photos of it) and will be building some larger more advanced versions soon. These could be good for videos because a lot of people want to use them outdoors.

Would you or anyone else be interested in helping write up a structured sequence/script for a full video walkthrough?

If so I'll see if I can make some better videos.

[John JR]

I should probably add to this.... one of the limitations I face is a lack of spare time. I have a long list of things to do and struggle to keep up with it all. So adding time consuming tasks to my todo list is difficult.

If anyone else wants to and is able to take on tasks like making videos, or any other tasks, that would be great.

It's best done as a collaborative effort and I'm happy to help out, provide whatever info, etc. is needed, and guide people so their contributions fit with my overall vision for the project.

If we can get to the point where we can delegate more tasks to other people that would be ideal.

Cheers,

John

[Jeff Heng]

One of the greatest perks, among other things, to be part of such a
community is the fact that we aren't pursuing a venture by ourselves
alone.

I've been through the entrepreneurial journey all by my lonesome self,
more than once as a matter of fact, and it can be a very emotionally
and mentally demanding experience. Some people can handle it better
than others, while some people can also handle it worse, leading to
burn-outs and serious health issues. Please don't let things get to
that point. Our physical and mental health aren't worth sacrificing
for anything in this material world.

That being said, John, if I may help with your website(s) and your
Sensorica Cloud infrastructure operations, please let me know. Each of
us have our own areas of strengths and our own personal likes; but
together as a community we are far more diversified in our collective
strengths and our collective likes.

Happy 2020, Sensorica community! May the New Year bring about even
more successes and exciting times for our collaborative network.

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[Bob Haugen]

John, I looked at a few of the videos. The pictures are very clear,
but as Tibi suggested, it is hard to understand what is happening in
some of them. I think an easy next step would be to connect a series
of the short videos with text explaining what is going on in each of
them.

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[Tiberius Brastaviceanu]

Yes, John, you can have a script in your mind, just to be able to imagine the shots you need. Take the shots, don't have to talk. Upload. I can take the 

 Shots and edit a video and voice over or add text. 

[John JR]

That being said, John, if I may help with your website(s) and your
Sensorica Cloud infrastructure operations, please let me know. Each of
us have our own areas of strengths and our own personal likes; but
together as a community we are far more diversified in our collective
strengths and our collective likes.

Thanks for the offer. Some help with the new website would definitely be appreciated. I have a vision in mind for the website I just need to bring it all together.

I find Google Sites too limited and a bit of a pain to use so I deployed a wordpress site on 2 of my webservers in my lab. Wordpress is more powerful, more flexible, and is easier to edit than Google Sites. A lot of the existing info from the previous Google Sites site needs to be moved over to the new wordpress site. And I also think we need to do some experimentation with the wordpress site, then share it, and get some feedback from everyone as to whether it is indeed the best option to go with before committing to it.

The coming soon page is accessible at http://growsense.io

Wordpress has advantages like the ability to install e-commerce modules, etc. so an online shop can be added directly to the same site.

Before adding content we need to figure out which modules to use. But having 2 web servers means we can use one as a staging server, to experiment with modules, layouts, etc. Then when we are happy with it we can replicate it on the primary server. If we mess up the staging server it doesn't matter I can just reset it without affecting the primary server.

Once the primary wordpress site is populated I can make the secondary one a mirror with a complete backup of all content. So if the primary webserver goes down, or I need to reboot it, or do some maintenance on it, the second server can remain online.

I'll need to set up a proxy server to switch between the two servers as needed.

I'm thinking of creating a kind of site map first, to define the complete structure of the entire website. Then once that's defined all the pages can be created and then start adding content.

Do you have any experience with wordpress?

I've sent you a message on hangouts so we can discuss it.

Cheers,

John

[John JR]

John, I looked at a few of the videos. The pictures are very clear,
but as Tibi suggested, it is hard to understand what is happening in
some of them. I think an easy next step would be to connect a series
of the short videos with text explaining what is going on in each of
them.

Yeah very valid points.

I'm thinking my green wall setup might be a good target for some better quality videos. It looks ornamental and I have some more carnivorous plants now I can add to fill it up.

I also think instead of moving the camera around a better option may be to use multiple cameras (phones), in fixed positions looking at different things (eg. one looking at the overall system, one looking at the embedded UI) and use screencasts of the web based UI instead of trying to film it.

The videos/screencasts could either be combined and edited into a single more structured video, or we could create a web page with a list of videos and descriptions of what each one is showing.

I'll have a good think about how best to do this. And hopefully if I can get some clear recordings someone with editing skills can turn them into nice videos.

[Bob Haugen]

John, I thought the videos themselves were clear, in the sense of
good-enuf focus and lighting. My problem was more in the missing
context: what is going on in this video clip and why? So a little text
explaining each one would be an easy next step and better than redoing
the recordings or editing them into a story with narration. Story with
narration would be good, but it's hard (for me, anyway) to think about
that without understanding what is going on and why.

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[John JR]

John, I thought the videos themselves were clear, in the sense of
good-enuf focus and lighting. My problem was more in the missing
context: what is going on in this video clip and why? So a little text
explaining each one would be an easy next step and better than redoing
the recordings or editing them into a story with narration. Story with
narration would be good, but it's hard (for me, anyway) to think about
that without understanding what is going on and why.

So a page with each video embedded, and a paragraph explaining what's happening in each video, could be a good solution.

[Bob Haugen]

For a next easy step that should be doable fairly quickly, yes. After
that you and everybody else can add more production values.

[Jeff Heng]

Yes, I have some experience working on WordPress websites in the past.
Looking forward to help.

[Tiberius Brastaviceanu]

Hi all, 

John, for the video, are my comments above. In short, you can make shory videos and someone (myself or others) can out them together into a larger video, voice over that and add text (add context). But in order to be able to collaboratively make a video, we need to share a script. You are the technical guy, so you decide most of the script or storyline. That script can be just a series if booletpoints in chronilogical order. If you make the script before it will help you plan your shots, because you'll need to illustrate what you want to talk about. The person who edits the larger video will follow the script to compose the narration and stitch the short videos together. 

A larger video is better than a bunch of shorter videos on a webpage containing text. That's because you make that content site-specific. You can't propagate it on social media or use it to grow the project. 

For the website we need to understand what type of website we're talking about. This is the website of the Exchange Firm, the commercial side of the project. It doesn't need to have collaborative features, just presenting a product or a service, a transaction module, a service module for support (which can be a link to an open forum). 

Back to our structure. Every project has a collaborative innovation network, which  MUST live on the Sensorica website, otherwise it is not considered a Sensorica project and no support from the network can be deployed free of charge. Every project can have a commercial side, an Exchange Firm, which can have it's own web identity but MUST refer to the Sensorica side open and collaborative innovation network. Every project has a Custodian, a non profit organisation that makes sure that the relation between the open innovation network and the Exchange Firm is well maintained. The Custodian offers other services to the project and the entire OVN. 

A project that doesn't have these features is not a Sensotica project and it is not allowed to function within the network. 

So, the GrowSense.io website can only be the commercial side of the project, if GrowSense is a Sensorica project. All collaboration on the tech should happen on the Sensorica website. Therefore, there are two digital environments to create and maintain: the GrowSense web presence and identity with ecommerce capabilities and the open innovation digital environment, which lives on the Sensorica website.

Another comment about the GrowSense project, must engage in activities for growing the community. John has called for help on multiple occasions and he recently hinted to fatigue. This project relies mostly on John for development, with a bit of help from Ken. That is unsustainable and non-resilient. 

I know this project has quite a bit of funds, which are not interested in doing technical work. Most of us are lacking the proper skills for technical work. But here's the thing. If we din't add more people for technical development we might lose this project. I am sounding the alarm to tell you that we can make things better, if not we might lose it, and you have been warned. 

What can we do? 

We already have a methodology in place that, has never been properly deployed. We just need to follow the steps, as if we're starting a project from scratch. This will lead us building a stronger community around this project. 

https://www.sensorica.co/help/project-help

My opinion, I would immediately stop any tech development and commercial development and build an organisational basis for GrowSense. Without an organisation we have no project and no product. The organisation comes first, and GrowSense is only hanging on a thread. 

I can facilitate this work, but I cannot drive it. Those who want to contribute manifest our interest here and contact me if you have questions. 

[Bob Haugen]

I'll be working on organization when I get my demo system. We got
people around here who at least say they want something like what John
is building. And some of them have professional skills in this kind of
work, and are open-source fans. Whether my organizing efforts work or
not remains to be seen, so don't count on anything yet.

However, whatever I build out here will not want to be part of
Sensorica. It will be a partner network. I know the people who will be
up for working on something like this around here, and they will not
want to be assimilated. I will make sure they obey value network rules
about sharing income upstream, though.

Will that be good enuf?

[Tiberius Brastaviceanu]

That's all fine Bob. People do whatever they want. 

Any activity outside of the digital environment of a network is defacto not part of that network, because there is no visibility nor interoperability or easy flows of resources. So it's good if more people play with these things. But in that case we're not doing what I called to do, growing an organisation aroud GrowSense, since that would be a satellite group of DIY-ers. 

For those who wonder if they have the proper skills and time to grow an organisation around GrowSense, which I think is a vital to the project, please take 10 minutes to read the how to start a project docs. 

https://www.sensorica.co/help/project-help

Again, this methodology has never been applied to this particular project and there's no surprise for me if we're still in a precarious situation. 

To build complex things, like a bussiness, we need to follow good methods. 

[Bob Haugen]

Tibi, I thought you liked networks of networks.

Anyway, we have no idea how this will evolve yet. so hang loose until
something happens and then we can all discuss.

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[Tiberius Brastaviceanu]

Yes, we can try networks of networks, but we still don't have the infrastructure to connect them well. Without a commun infrastructure we still end up with silos. 

I am retrying networks of networks now, this is why we called the new Sensorica an environment. 

A new type of page was created, called Communities. 

https://www.sensorica.co/communities

The interface I am building now with Seastraders and Climate Chain Coalition is that open innovation projects are to be conducted within the Sensorica environment using the NRP. Anything outside of that is not an activity part of this "network of networks" because we cannot effectively coordinate. As long as we have a server-client-based infrastructure we cannot do better. 

These communities can continue to do other activities within their own digital and physical environment, but if they want to use the methodologies we've developed they also have to be within Sensorica. If they want. Otherwise I will not be able to provide support and they will not get the benefit from whatever Sensorica has built, if they perceive it as valuable. These 2 communities don't have tools and methods and governance to conduct open innovation. It's like us and Ouishare using Loomio for decisionmaking, to host decision making processes. They come to us to host their innovation processes. Hope something can be built on Holochain, still early stage though, so that we can federate and don't need to spread our activities on different platforms that have their own governance. 

If you, or anyone else wants, we can collaborate on at least improve and develop what we are trying at this moment. Seasteading and Climate Chain Coalition are good initiatives with solid momentum. Best I can say at this point is that it would make a good case study. 

[Bob Haugen]

As you know, we are helping with a Holochain project that we hope
Sensorica will test when it's ready.

We are also trying to get an ActivityPub project going and may know
soon if that will fly.

When either of them gets ready for use, different nodes in
Sensorica-style networks will be able to federate with each other
without being part of the same site and database.

If we get anything going around us, we want to use one of those
systems, assuming the participants want to do that.

On Thu, Jan 2, 2020 at 5:12 PM Tiberius Brastaviceanu

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[Tiberius Brastaviceanu]

That would be great Bob. 

I'll need to schedule some workdays with pospi too.