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User:Peteforsyth

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edit Pete Forsyth

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  • I'm working for AboutUs writing some articles.
  • My main project, these days, is The Open Lobby: a project to inject transparency and accessibility into government by brute force! Take a look, and please sign up to stay informed, and find ways to contribute to this exciting project.
  • I do a lot of writing and editing for Wikipedia. My user page there has lots of stuff… wikipedia:User:Peteforsyth
  • My personal website, very minimal and out of date: PeteForsyth.com
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edit October (New!)

edit Portland Open Beer Club - October 2008

Portland Open Beer Club - October 2008 Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 5pm Green Dragon Bistro & Brewpub 928 SE 9th Ave Portland , Oregon 97214 ( map ) Portland Open Beer Club and Portland Open Coffee Club are monthly meetups offering a low key, agenda-free format centered around meeting like-minded individuals and talking about technology, the web, and startups. The Portland Open Beer Club meets the second Thursday of every month at Green Dragon at 5pm.

edit SAO October Tech Pub - Dawn Foster

SAO October Tech Pub - Dawn Foster Thursday, October 9, 2008 from 5:30 – 8pm Renaissance on the Riverfront 136 SW Washington Ave. Corvallis , Oregon 97333 US ( map ) Thursday, Oct 9th, 2008 5:30pm - 8:30pm Location: Renaissance on the Riverfront 136 SW Washington Ave. 1000 NE Circle Blvd Corvallis, Oregon 97333 Google Map RSVP TO: SAO by emailing FREE this month for SAO members or students, and non-members Includes finger food and no-host bar.

edit The Electricity Restructuring Debate

The Electricity Restructuring Debate Thursday, October 9, 2008 from 7:30 – 9pm Reed College (Psychology 105) 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd Portland , Oregon 97202 US ( map ) Reed Economics Lecture Series: The Electricity Restructuring Debate William Hogan, "Energy Policy for Electricity Markets" William W. Hogan, Raymond Plank Professor of Global Energy Policy at Harvard University, is the research director of the Harvard Electricity Policy Group, which explores the issues involved in the…

edit PostgreSQL Conference West

PostgreSQL Conference West Friday, October 10, 2008 at 8am through Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 5pm Portland State University, Native American Student & Community Center 710 SW Jackson Street Portland , Oregon 97201 US ( map ) Join us for the second annual PostgreSQL Conference West! Scheduled to begin October 10 and go through the weekend, West being held at Portland State University is going to be the destination for learning, fun and general education about PostgreSQL. Links Website Tags…

edit Oregon Manifest bike show - opening night party

Oregon Manifest bike show - opening night party Friday, October 10, 2008 from 7 – 11:59pm Wieden and Kennedy 224 NW 13th Portland , Oregon 97209 US ( map ) Oregon Manifest bike show Opening Night Blowout at Wieden +Kennedy Wieden + Kennedy, the global ad agency behind Teams of Portland and some of the finest creative work in the world, is taking the concept of an opening party and blowing it up beyond imagination. In the works is a special multi-media bike builder exhibition featuring their…

edit Calagator Code Sprint

Calagator Code Sprint Saturday, October 11, 2008 from 10am – 6pm CubeSpace 622 SE Grand Ave. Portland , Oregon 97214 USA ( map ) Join us to work on adding features and improving Calagator! We have a full-day code sprint on Saturday at CubeSpace starting at 10am and ending around 6pm. You don't have to be there for the full day, join us for however much time you'd like to contribute. Some possible tasks for the sprint include adding data versioning and rollback, improving Google Calendar…

edit PNSQC 26th Annual Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference

PNSQC 26th Annual Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference Monday, October 13, 2008 at 7:30am through Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 6pm Oregon Convention Center 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Portland , OR 97232 US ( map ) Links Website Download to iCal You can edit this event . This item was imported from http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/o... Monday, March 17, 2008 at 10:33am and last updated Sunday, September 14, 2008 at 5:41pm .

edit Mobile Love, Anrdoid Style #6

Mobile Love, Anrdoid Style #6 Monday, October 13, 2008 at 6pm Lucky Labrador Brew Pub 915 SE Hawthorne Boulevard Portland , Oregon 97214 ( map ) The October/November release dat e for the HTC Dream phone from T-Mobile approaches. Android is an operating system for cell phones written by Google. Links Website Download to iCal You can edit this event . This item was imported from http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1087530/ Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 4:24pm .

edit DorkbotPDX Meeting

DorkbotPDX Meeting Monday, October 13, 2008 from 7 – 10pm Lucky Labrador Beer Hall 1945 NW Quimby Portland , OR 97209 US ( map ) Come join us for an evening of socializing, talking about odd hacks and poking around with other people toys. Bring things for show and tell if you like, or just bring a willingness to share your interests. We'll be the kids with all the coolest stuff on the table. Hope to see you there. Download to iCal You can edit this event . This item was imported from…

edit Portland Functional Programming Study Group

Portland Functional Programming Study Group Monday, October 13, 2008 from 7 – 9pm CubeSpace 622 SE Grand Ave. Portland , Oregon 97214 USA ( map ) A study/user group exploring the world of functional programming based in Portland, Oregon. The group welcomes programmers interested in all functional languages, including Haskell, Erlang, OCaml, Scala, and others. The group meets regularly and provides presentations, demos and discussions applicable to all skill levels, from newbies and experts. The…

edit Starve Ups: A Tale of Two Inc. 500 Companies

Starve Ups: A Tale of Two Inc. 500 Companies Tuesday, October 14, 2008 from 6 – 9pm eROI 505 NW Couch, Suite 300 Portland , Oregon 97209 United States ( map ) Links Website Download to iCal You can edit this event . This item was added directly to Calagator Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 9:17am .

edit PHP: Using Adobe Flex and Adobe AIR with PHP and Zend Framework

PHP: Using Adobe Flex and Adobe AIR with PHP and Zend Framework Tuesday, October 14, 2008 from 6:30 – 8pm CubeSpace 622 SE Grand Ave. Portland , Oregon 97214 USA ( map ) Rich Internet applications (RIAs) are everywhere. With Web businesses like Google and Yahoo! and brick and mortar companies like Harley Davidson and Sherwin Williams embracing RIAs for their online presence, the media buzz is giving way to the reality of a better Internet. Adobe has recently contributed AMF support to the Zend…

edit Lunch 2.0 at the Art Institute of Portland

Lunch 2.0 at the Art Institute of Portland Wednesday, October 15, 2008 from noon – 2pm Art Institute of Portland 1122 NW Davis Portland , Oregon 97209 US ( map ) The Portland Lunch 2.0 saga continues at the Art Institute of Portland in the Pearl, and big thanks to Bram Pitoyo for making this work. Come join your old Twitter pals, meet some new people, learn about what the Art Institute has going on these days, and check out the exhibits, all with a full belly. This will be at the beginning of the…

edit CubeSpace's Second Birthday Party & Open House

CubeSpace's Second Birthday Party & Open House Thursday, October 16, 2008 from 4 – 8pm CubeSpace 622 SE Grand Ave. Portland , Oregon 97214 USA ( map ) Mark your calendars: on Thursday, October 16, CubeSpace marks our second birthday! What does this mean for you? A community-wide open house, with delicious food, great company, and some fun and games to boot. Current, former, and future members of CubeSpace are all invited, as are general well-wishers, curious onlookers, and newsletter…

edit Bend Venture Conference 2008

Bend Venture Conference 2008 Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 5pm through Friday, October 17, 2008 at 6pm Tower Theatre 835 NW Wall Street Bend , OR 97701 US ( map ) Celebrating its fifth year, Bend Venture Conference has established itself as the major regional event connecting seed and early stage companies with investment opportunities. The annual conference attracts over 300 entrepreneurs, investors and service providers and gives attendees the opportunity to network with the best of the Northwest.…

edit Building a Brand that Matters

Building a Brand that Matters Thursday, October 16, 2008 from 7 – 8:30pm Milam Hall 2520 Campus Way Corvallis , OR 97333 US ( map ) The Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series Building a Brand that Matters Alfred LinCOO, CFO and Chairman, Zappos.com Thursday, Oct. 16, 20087-8:30 p.m. Milam Hall, Room 026 Alfred Lin is responsible for all financial, administrative, and warehouse operations of Zappos.com. Since 2005, he has brought focus, strategy, and financial discipline to help grow the business…

edit Equilibrium: The Human Mash Up

Equilibrium: The Human Mash Up Friday, October 17, 2008 from 4 – 7pm Olympic Mills Commerce Center 107 Se Washington St Portland , OR 97214 US ( map ) Equilibrium: The Human Mash Up RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/art-tech08 Read reviews of the first of three Mash Up events: http://tinyurl.com/yelpreview08 Featuring Live DJs Echoik & Frequency Working Artists Network + Software Association of Oregon introduce Equilibrium: The Human Mash Up. In the spirit of disruptive ideas and breaking down barriers…

edit WhereCamp PDX

WhereCamp PDX Friday, October 17, 2008 at 6pm through Sunday, October 19, 2008 at 3pm souk 322 NW 6th Avenue, suite 200 Portland , Oregon 97209 US ( map ) "Society is being transformed by new maps and new mapping technology. Our mission is to help create a free forum for people to talk about, present, explore, and learn about projects that involve place." What is WhereCamp PDX? WhereCampPDX is a free unconference focusing on all things geographical and cartographical. This informal meeting…

WhereCampPDX Gaming #1: Pac-ManHattan WhereCampPDX Gaming #1: Pac-ManHattan Sunday, October 19, 2008 from 9 – 11am souk 322 NW 6th Avenue, suite 200 Portland , Oregon 97209 US ( map ) This first of the WhereCampPDX Location-Based games brings the ancient art of Pac-Man to the Portland city streets near you! Players are assigned to be either 'Pac-Man' or 'ghosts' and the game plays out over several city blocks near souk. For more details, see the game description posted at WhereCampPDX. About the original game:…

edit Government Open Source Conference (GOSCON)

Government Open Source Conference (GOSCON) Monday, October 20, 2008 at midnight through Thursday, October 23, 2008 at midnight Holiday Inn Portland Downtown/Convention Center 1441 NE 2nd Ave. Portland , OR 97232 US ( map ) Hold the Dates: The fourth annual Government Open Source Conference returns to Portland Oregon with an expanded program which will include an International Open Source Summit, hosting international governments as well as US state and locals. Focus this year will be on OSS…

edit Cocktail Cabaret at McMenamins Mission Theater

Cocktail Cabaret at McMenamins Mission Theater Saturday, October 25, 2008 from 8 – 11pm Mission Theater & Pub 1624 Nw Glisan St Portland , Oregon 97209 US ( map ) Saturday, October 25 Cocktail Cabaret presents: "A NIGHT AT THE CARNIVAL" All proceeds from this show will be donated to the Oregon Humane Society. 8 p.m. doors, 8:30 p.m. show $14 advance, $17 day of show 21 and over COCKTAIL CABARET Cocktail Cabaret started when a small group of friends came together in late 2004 to…

edit Renewable Energy Finance Forum-West

Renewable Energy Finance Forum-West Monday, October 27, 2008 at 8:30am through Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 4:30pm Grand Hyatt Hotel 721 Pine Street Seattle , WA 98101 US ( map ) The Renewable Energy Finance Forum-West (REFF-West) will unite investors, financiers and project developers in the renewable energy sector, with a particular focus on the Western U.S. The conference builds on the success of the Clean Tech Investing in the Pacific Northwest conference and REFF-Wall Street. Attendees will…

edit Smalltalk Users Group meeting [tentative]

Smalltalk Users Group meeting [tentative] Tuesday, October 28, 2008 from 6:30 – 8:30pm GemStone Systems 1260 NW Waterhouse Ave # 200 Beaverton , OR 97006 US ( map ) pdx.st is the Portland Smalltalk Users Group. The group welcomes programmers interested in the Smalltalk language. Members interact through a mailing list and meet regularly for presentations, demos and discussions. Tags programming, smalltalk Download to iCal You can edit this event . This item was added directly to Calagator…

edit Science Pub: Science Circus - The Physics of Fun

Science Pub: Science Circus - The Physics of Fun Tuesday, October 28, 2008 from 7 – 9pm McMenamins Mission Theater 1624 NW Glisan Street Portland , Oregon 97209 ( map ) Come see physics in action! Jugglers, acrobats, and other circus artists often base their acts on simple Newtonian principles of motion and balance taken to extremes. How does gravity's constant rate of acceleration affect the juggling of bowling balls? Why would a Nobel Laureate beg a vaudevillian to spin a ball on his finger?…

edit Venture Northwest 2008

Venture Northwest 2008 Thursday, October 30, 2008 from 8am – 5pm Portland Marriott (Downtown) 1401 SW Naito Parkway Portland , Oregon 97201 US ( map ) It starts with a simple seed. But from that seed grows strong, vibrant and sustainable companies that are ripe for investment. Venture Northwest (formerly Venture Oregon) is the premier forum for new and emerging investment opportunities in exciting companies from Oregon, Washington, and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Learn about the region's…

edit PSBA: Technology Roadmapping

PSBA: Technology Roadmapping Thursday, October 30, 2008 from noon – 1pm Portland State Business Accelerator 2828 SW Corbett Ave Portland , OR 97201 US ( map ) Whether you call it strategic product development, technology forecasting, or something else, planning your company's technology evolution while also keeping an eye on technologies in your market is a critical capability. It supports developing successful technologies, gaining investor confidence, and successfully competing in the…


edit AboutMe

I like to think of myself as an architect/builder of the Internet, or of the commons in general. I've made web sites, but that's not what I mean; I'm much more interested in the content that's available, than in any specific site. I write and edit for Wikipedia, I blog, I comment on other people's blogs, I Facebook, etc. etc. I haven't entirely figured out how to support myself in this endeavor yet, so I still do computer-related consulting for small businesses and individuals.

I've always been interested in the idea of collective ownership and stewardship, and I like to think of the Internet as something we all own, and can shape into whatever we want it to be. I grew up in Massachusetts, which is one of only four states that calls itself a "commonwealth;" also, the main park in its capital city is called the "Boston Common," and is where everybody got to graze their cattle back in the day. I came to Oregon in 1991, and have found these ideals, which I knew mostly from history class, to be alive and well here. People here support and use free software, offer up their yards to their neighbors for community activities, devote huge amounts of time to coaching Little League, etc. It's all very inspiring.

My main contributions to this effort have been on Wikipedia, where I've spent the last couple years working mostly on Oregon-related articles. I also volunteer for a number of community organizations, including Powell Little League, the Citizen Campaign Commission, the Giving Tree, the Bus Project, and Free Geek.

I'm also very interested in the process of decision-making, from small, community-based groups on up to how to run a country. I've found that consensus is an excellent way to make decisions, where possible; it gives lots of people a true sense of ownership over the decision, and emphasizes problem-solving over coalition-building. It's also entirely compatible with other systems; one doesn't need a formal consensus system to use consensus as a tool.

My favorite (and totally atypical!) Wikipedia contribution of all time.

edit FunStuff

Brandon Roy is ridiculous.

Don't be parkin' that booty.

Wikipedia: why it's important. Trailer for forthcoming documentary!

Looks like there's a lot more footage online, here.

edit ThoughtsAboutAboutUs

I am fascinated and inspired by AboutUs: it has great people behind it, some really cool technology, and a bold vision. It seems that there's a desire to have all community members contribute to the excellence of the site, and in that spirit I'm going to compile some concerns below.

Metacommentary: This grows out of a discussion at SuggestionBox; I'd like to keep my own record independent of trying to convince anybody of anything. Please feel free to either edit this text directly, or comment on my talk page. I'm not possessive about my text! I may edit your edits, but that's what this is all about, right?)

The newcomer's experience
For a project that aims to build a very large community, I would think this issue is paramount.
  • Where to go to ask questions? One advantage of a wiki is that there are (potentially) lots of people available to help each other out, so it's less necessary to immediately ask newcomers to read a bunch of documentation (much of which may be beyond their needs or comprehension.) The "help" or "support" links should very quickly give the newcomer a taste of the WikiWay, by encouraging them to ask questions and build connections. I suspect that the focus on the 800-number is aimed to meet this need, and I think that's a great step. But more than that, I'd take a lot of the specific documentation off the "help" page to make it less overwhelming, and direct people to a page where they can ask questions. Then a fellow wiki user can direct them to the right PART of the documentation, or just answer them directly, or start a discussion. A "Documentation" link should be easy to find, but it's not the same thing as "Help."
  • Presently, there are SuggestionBox, DailyBuzz, and InterestingHappenings. To my mind, none of these really promotes the idea of "jump on in and let's get talkin!" which I think is essential to a wiki becoming a community. I'll try to flesh out this idea and offer a suggestion later, hopefully with more input.
  • "Useful links" menu: this is almost completely invisible to me, it blends right in with "Sponsored links," which is something I'm accustomed to ignoring.
  • I wonder whether AboutUs has worked closely with an Interface Design specialist. I think my piecemeal suggestions could be helpful, but ultimately, it's important to remember that there's an entire discipline devoted to addressing the kinds of things I'm bringing up, available for hire. Folks like that do amazing things.
  • "discussion" vs. "talk": This is a more general MediaWiki concern, and one that could be easily addressed. "talk" and "discussion" are unnecessary synonyms; I think the tab should just say "talk," which is how most wikifolk refer to those pages anyway.
  • Wikipedia has a nice feature on diff pages that gives horizontal scroll bars in individual sections of text, when non-breaking text like long URLs extends beyond the box. Prevents crashing text; nice feature.
  • Not sure if this is just me, but when I see "IRC," I think of something geeky and complicated. I was surprised to find that "Chat live with community members in the Web IRC" just meant "Chat live with community members." No software to install, launch, or configure…just click and type. I think most companies just say "click here to chat," without mentioning the technology that supports it -- I think that's the better approach. Those that care to learn can always ask.
Could you just fix this? That would be awesome! TedErnst (talk) 13:19, 21 December 2007 (PST)
Ted, the ContactUs page appears to be protected, so I can't. Also wasn't sure how much it's OK to much around with that stuff! But I did change the text at Portal:AboutUsHelp/Contact, which is not protected. Thanks! -Peteforsyth 13:39, 21 December 2007 (PST)
  • CamelCase: I don't really have a preference, but my gut says that anything that makes the site feel less familiar to newcomers is potentially discouraging. I see the menu on the right does not use CamelCase for items like "Contact Us" and "Daily Buzz." Is there a reason the page titles are in CamelCase?
Both Daily Buzz and dailybuZZ work now, so pagenames really don't matter. Some of us are still really attracted to the idea of a LinkLanguage, so CamelCase is a natural, but we're obviously undecided as a community. If you'd like to move those pages, I'd bet they don't get moved back. TedErnst (talk) 13:18, 21 December 2007 (PST)
How are decisions made?
One of the appealing things about Wikipedia is that it's pretty easy to figure out how a given decision is made, and for those that are not just "be bold" or "general consensus" situations, to figure out who you gotta talk to to get your opinion heard. Not so here: many of the pages are locked, but it's not clear who the ultimate decision-maker is if you want to change the front page, or the menus, etc.
Peter, excited to read this! Jump in! If there is a page that is locked, it shouldn't be! Be bold and if something gets changed back, then we can discuss. Your thoughts are right on and perfect for help grow this place. We don't have all the answers! :-) I personally come from non Mediawiki and Wikipedia, much smaller wiki, so it has been a fun ride trying to figure out how to grow this place. Would love to talk to you via phone/skype about Organic Community Building when you get a chance. Best, MarkDilley
Thanks, Mark! I am occasionally Skypable at peterdforsyth; but also, I plan to be stopping by the office some after the holidays, so maybe we can just discuss in person. In the meantime, is it possible for you to unblock Contact Us? -Peteforsyth 19:47, 22 December 2007 (PST)

edit Wiki Coach projects

edit Stuff I'm working on


edit My Influence Us Comments

edit Peteforsyth's Comments on Pdxtc.com

  • Peteforsyth (delighted) : Scott is a very approachable and articulate person, and breaks down the complexities of SEO in a way that anyone can understand. I owe most of my understanding of the field to a presentation he made. Highly recommended. 18:17, 29 May 2008 (PDT)