ShiftSpace 0.17 released

[Dan Phiffer]

Hi all,

I just released ShiftSpace version 0.17! I wrote up a short summary on the blog (copied below):

http://www.shiftspace.org/2011/05/31/shiftspace-0-17-released/

I’m happy to announce the release of ShiftSpace version 0.17, which fixes an important bug that was preventing shift creation in Firefox 4. It’s been just over two years since our 0.16 release and a lot has happened behind the scenes since then. We were making good progress toward an ambitious 1.0 release, but that momentum has slowed to a halt.

We’ve been having discussions about what we should do next, both on the main list and the developer’s list. It seems that we’re in a good position to rethink some of our old approaches. As always, we welcome your input as we regroup and consider some new directions for the project.

Big thanks to GitHub user Kubuguy who helped identify the bug!

[Fridemar Dr. Pache]

Dear Dan,
the given download link didn't work on my Imac 10.5. Clicking on it didn't produce any noticeable effect.
All the best
Fridemar

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Fridemar

[Dan Phiffer]

Thanks Fridemar!

I naively updated WordPress to 3.1.3, just after hitting publish on my post and our custom theme didn't take well to the newest version. Luckily I had a backup handy, so the site should be back to working again!

Best,
-Dan

[Fridemar Dr. Pache]

Hello Dan,
thank you for your fast response.

I installed Greasemonkey and the Script for Firefox 4.01 on Imac OSX 10.5 /Leopard (with a success message box in the left bottom of the screen), but it still doesn't work, although the first time it worked, such that I could login and make a space "dohamers", but from then on, pressing "Shift+Space" was dead.

Looking into the script manager, the ShiftSpace Script was (for whatever reason) disabled. I re-enabled it (both ways within the Script Manager but also by reloading the Script), but without success.

All the best
Fridemar
PS.:
Can ShiftSpace operate on Facebook pages too? That would be great, especially in combination with trails, because imho FB controls too much the message streams. Thank you.

[Dan Phiffer]

Hi Fridemar,

Sorry to year it's not working! I have noticed something similar to what you're describing: pressing shift + space does not bring up the console every time. I haven't completely identified the nature of this one, but slowing down the speed of the shift -> space presses seems to improve the likelihood that it'll work. I should do some testing to see if I can identify a fix for this one since it's pretty annoying.

Related to the unpredictable enabled/disabled behavior, I've noticed that in Greasemonkey 0.9.3 the Tools > Greasemonkey > ShiftSpace menu does not toggle the state of the userscript as it should. The toolbar button and script manager both seem to work, just not the menu. I should make sure the GM folks know about that one.

As of now, ShiftSpace works best on "document-like" pages that don't change much over time, so Facebook is unfortunately not a great target for creating shifts. We've had discussions on the developer list recently about this, and I would love to see ShiftSpace work more seamlessly in dynamic sites like Facebook. Thanks for the feedback!

Best,
-Dan

[Fridemar Dr. Pache]

Dear Dan,
now I managed to produce two static notes. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to trail them under the name MayAllBeingsBeHappy (I also tried it with the alternative: MayAllBeiingsBeHappy ( :-) pun intended ).
Please show us a working public trail. I searched for an example, but couldn't find it.
Did you improve the old trailsystem in the last two years?
I am very sad about the current state of affairs.
All the best
Fridemar
PS.: I still believe you could revolutionize the Web.

[Mushon Zer-Aviv]

[ccing the dev list]

Hi Fridemar,

Thank you for your faith in the project. We have not lost faith in it ourselves but 5 years of revolutionary hacking does teach you something about what you're trying to do.

After §0.16 we were determined that the needs have outgrown the original architecture we built and that for § to really succeed we need to rewrite it almost from scratch. This was indeed a correct assessment and we've been working on §1.0 since trying to make it everything we dreamed of. the code for §1.0 is truly a masterpiece, spearheaded by David Nolen it was really built to answer most of the needs both § users and developers have identified.

But it was also a very high end piece of software and the burden was left on few highly skilled developers (mainly David's) shoulders. Being a volunteer-based Open Source project we could not buy our developers all the time in the world to work on 1.0 and when other companies (NYTimes, MoMA...) did pay for the intense dayjob, priorities changed and development stagnated.

For ShiftSpace to succeed it need not only be an inspiring and engaging idea, it needs to be an inspiring and engaging piece of software. This is completely opposite from the direction 1.0 was going to as it was clearing complexity from the way of users and app (interface/space) developers in the price of very heavy lifting on the core.

These days we are having some intense and spirited debates on the developer list rethinking our development culture and the code it produces. Some of us are raising ideas... others are writing code... it is behind the scenes but there is work being done. I believe we should define the ShiftSpace kernel—a minimal protocol for how to display a shift on a page and how to reference it. Anything beyond that can be plugged in as a feature: authoring tools, hosting tools, aggregation, plugins, apps, proxying, a decentralized architecture, a distributed P2P architecture, a business model... and so on…

Finally, I think revolutions are risky business… You may fail and become disillusioned and cynical, you may succeed but become corrupt, you may continue trying just to maintain the romantic image of the revolutionary. I think revolutions should focus on the morning after the revolution, and the morning after that, and make sure it is truly worth waking up to.

Thanks again for the faith, feel free to join the discussions on the shiftsp...@googlegroups.com list.

Have a great weekend!

Mushon Zer-Aviv
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[zippy.rsshead]

I think shiftspace has a lot of possibility -- but it's obviously a very complex project that demands a lot of

time.   In the absence of shiftspace, what other project(s) do you think (if any) could serve a similar purpose?

thanks a lot,

rick