Mentations on Mentations

Mentations - The Progress Made Thus Far

Howdy!  I know it seems as though "Elvis has left the building" based on the lack of posts here but rest assured, such is not the case!  The reason for the post sparseness is that we have been hard at work building out Mentations to eventually achieve a V1.0 non-beta baseline.  The highlights of progress made thus far include the following:

• Added voice commands and speech synthesis - see the Voice Activation & Speech topic in the online help (http://www.mentations.com/products/Mentations/Help/webframe.html) for more info. Users have found this functionality to be especially helpful in mobile usage scenarios using Ultra-Mobile PCs (UMPCs). These capabilities allow you to ask Mentations to read the current news/blog/weather/etc. headlines as well as entire news articles, all while you're driving along or doing some other multitasking;
• Created Mentations Lite (https://www.gpinc.biz/mentationsweb/), an entirely web-based interface for access to your Mentations interface even when you aren't at your own computer. Using AJAX, it was possible to achieve much of the look and feel of the desktop client (although the functionality is still lacking);
• In support of RSS and blogs, we have added the ability to import and export OPML to facilitate easy personalization of the interface;
• Also to facilitate mobile usage, we have added a variety of location-based functions including the ability to receive live GPS readings from a connected (wirelessly or otherwise) GPS device and then to see a map displaying nearby locations within a 10 mile radius related to your interests as well as the ability to see the locations of any friends and family who are also using Mentations. This functionality is available through the new Mentations Vicinity Map as well as the Mentations relationship screen;
• Added a new football-oriented theme;
• Added the ability to minimize Mentations to your system tray versus the taskbar for easier access to the application;
• Added the capability for you to completely customize the Mentations interface through the addition of "Unmanaged Interfaces". You can either start with one of our interface templates or build out an interface entirely from scratch with whatever categories, feeds, and graphics you feel are appropriate versus being subjected to our version of reality ;^). You can then choose to make this new interface public for others to enjoy too! It will even be posted on our website in our forthcoming Mentations interface gallery;
• We have added the Mentations Helm which provides a screen where you can build your own interfaces from scratch or from pre-existing public interfaces. Included with this functionality are the Calculation Scripter and Web Service Request Builder tools. Once you are satisfied with your creations, you can choose to make them public interfaces and if approved, they will be posted to the forthcoming Interface Gallery on our site for all to see/use! Btw, if users click on offers while using any of your interfaces, we will split any revenue received with you 50/50! Furthermore, you can also show your own offers from within your interfaces which of course you can keep 100% of any revenue from;
• Also, we have added support for international (i.e., non-U.S. based) users which is a good thing since, as it turns out, over half of you fall into this category! Currently, this means primarily that you'll be able to see weather for your locale, but other international content will eventually follow. Fyi, you can change your location by right-clicking on the background and then clicking "Preferences". This will launch the Preferences Wizard. From within the wizard, make sure to check that you are an international user (if applicable) and then enter your city and country;
• Further, we have included better screensaver integration such that the Mentations desktop client can actually be automatically launched by the Mentations Screensaver;
• Finally, we have created the "Mentations Mini" gadget (see http://www.mentations.com/MentationsMini.htm for an example). This gadget provides an easy way for you to post a miniature, read-only version of your current Mentations interface on your web page for others to be able to see how you're doing at a glance! If you don't have your own website, you can also link directly to ours for people to see your Mentations Mini. Sample HTML/hyperlink code can be automatically generated by right-clicking on the Mentations background and clicking "Tokens" -> "Email Footer". As the label implies, this is also a great footer to add to the bottom of your email messages!

As you can see, we have been quite busy!  Fyi, a complete listing of all enhancements/fixes made to Mentations can be found on the Mentations News page (http://www.mentations.com/news.htm).

In closing, any suggestions or feedback regarding the current release of Mentations (Version 0.81) would be greatly appreciated!  Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time at support@gpinc.biz.

UMPC/Origami - The Killer App

When I first heard about the upcoming release of UMPC/Origami devices, I was both excited and anxious at the same time.  You see, this is EXACTLY the type of form factor that I deemed optimal for Mentations to run on 3 years ago when I started work on the product, but I had hoped to have been further along in the development of this service by the time these types of devices came to fruition.  In fact, over a year before Origami was announced I purchased a Sony U750P ultra-portable PC (which seems to have influenced the design of these Johnny-come-lately units) to begin honing Mentations towards.  Granted, I think some improvements have been made like integrated Bluetooth and maybe even integrated GPS in some UMPC models.  Actually, I think that having integrated GPS will be key. Integrated EVDO would be very cool too for always-available internet but I guess working with the cell carriers hasn't quite panned out yet logistically and/or technically.  However, considering various carriers now allow you to use your Bluetooth-enabled phone to access an EVDO network or (in the case of Verizon) to buy their USB connector to tether your UMPC to select cell phones, the lack of a built-in cell card isn't all that bad (but still annoying).  Another alternative would be to get a Kyocera portable WiFi router and turn your entire vehicle into a WiFi hotspot!

Ok, so you're asking, "What does this have to do with Mentations and why is it a killer app for UMPC devices?"  Well, because the main design goal of Mentations is to provide information at a glance via dynamic pictures at the right time and location.  It should be self-evident that having a device that can constantly run Mentations and always be with you (just like your cell phone probably is) would bring us closer to satisfying the time and location criteria, especially if GPS is also available.  Further, having a built-in stand that you can prop open at a moment's notice to display an aesthetically pleasing picture that dynamically conveys information (i.e., Mentations) about how you're doing in your net-driven life is huge!

We believe so strongly in this vision that we have just finished baking in location-based functionality into Mentations including support for GPS!  Now, wherever you are (assuming you are connected to a GPS device), you can pull up the Mentations Vicinity Map to see if there are any personalized points of interest located nearby (within 10 miles) including friends, family, and interests.  Furthermore, you can now pull up a relationship within Mentations and get driving directions to THEIR current location regardless of whether they are in your general vicinity or not.  If GPS is not available, Mentations will still provide this type of functionality by using the zip code that you provided the system with to approximate your current location.

This is just the beginning; Mentations is still very much in its infancy and will continue to evolve into an application that you will want as your constant companion, while traveling or otherwise.  It will understand your needs and desires taking time and location into account.  Mentations could very well become THE killer app for UMPC/Origami devices!  Yes, I know I'm a bit biased, but I really do think so.  ;^)

Attention - The Shortage

It seems ironic that in this current age of convenience and automation and computerization that we have less time and not more.  We rush from activity to activity and seem to have little time to stop and "smell the roses", not to mention spending some quality time with our friends and families!  Perhaps this is a result of expectations being raised for personal productivity due to these modernizations along with the increasingly competitive world market.  Whatever the cause, we find ourselves with an attention shortage as a result.  As the amount of stuff we deem important to track/consume continues to increase, we are reduced to a frenzied, multi-tasking state where we are never fully engaged with what we are currently doing *now* because we are constantly thinking about three other things at the same time! 

So what do we do to combat this growing attention/time shortage?  It may not be rocket science, but I recommend the following tactics:

1. SIMPLIFY/SHOW RESTRAINT: Do you really need to keep up with every episode of your favorite show(s)?  Do you really need to consume every X gadget that Y produces?  We need to pick our battles (attention targets) wisely and not become embroiled in trivial things that don't make a difference in the eternal scope of things.
2. DELEGATE: Are you a control freak?  Do you feel like you are humanity's last great hope?  Get over it!  We are only going to make it through this together.  Distribute your load throughout a team, although preferably one with congruent goals and desires.
3. AGGREGATE: Use tools and techniques to allow for you to be "abstracted" away from the line-by-line details.  Instead of constantly trying to monitor everything you care about yourself, invoke some intelligence agent/pundit to do it for you, which in turn will provide you with a distillation of the material in question.

With regard to #3, this is where we hope to make a difference at Grimaldi Productions.  We are building a product called Mentations that will be able to "learn" what is important to you (i.e., what you think about... your mentations) and monitor these things for you, providing you information at a glance through dynamic pictures (a net-driven dashboard of sorts) which visually summarize your status with regard to these categories.  We'd love to get your feedback on our progress so far - you can download our work-in-progress from www.mentations.com!

Software Development Stage Labeling - The Deficiency

The emergence of Application Service Providers, otherwise known as Software-as-a-Service, has made the notion of having formal software development stages somewhat deficient as applied to this form of software deployment.  Is it meaningful to label something as Alpha, Beta, Release Candidate, or General Availability Release (GAR)??  I say no.  Why?  Because as a service, the latest software build is constantly being delivered to end-users.  In other words, to say that your software is 'alpha' means little to someone who is actively using this version.  To them, this is your product as it currently exists, i.e. GAR.  I would maintain that simply giving your software service a numerical version designation says enough.  For instance, something that is version 0.5 connotes one thing versus something that is version 9.0.  The former says that the software service is fairly immature and potentially unstable versus the latter which indicates maturity.  Each major addition of functionality/milestone would increment the version number by 1 whole number versus a minor release to address bugs, etc. which would increment the version by 1 decimal number.  As an example, version 1.0 would change to 2.0 for a major change in functionality versus 1.1 for a minor release to address bugs.  In summary, in the software service world, giving something the designation of 'alpha' or 'beta' is a bit of a misnomer since presumably, as a service, your software will be constantly evolving with enhancements being periodically if not frequently delivered to end-users.

Content - The Context

There is this ongoing debate about whether it is legitimate and desired to use information aggregation software like Mentations, RSS readers, Konfabulator, etc. in order to collect and display various data from the web.  As the argument goes, if you separate the content from the context in which it was originally presented, you lose part of its meaning.  I say, it depends ;^). 

When you are dealing with prose (blogs being one form), in which one sentence builds upon another to form paragraphs, then the context (other sentences) is relatively important.  Also, the context of how it is presented (the website design) also affects the user experience (meaning) but to a lesser extent.  In the former instance, context is critical; in the latter, it is a nice-to-have.  Given this view, I think that RSS readers are doing a decent job of trying to remain faithful to authors' intentions.

However, I think that RSS/Atom only scratches the surface for what is coming.  The bigger story is WEB SERVICES and how smart aggregators are in distilling and presenting that sort of information.  In this case, context is much less important since by definition, web services merely provide an API to access data versus providing the full user experience through related prose or design elements.  This is where aggregators can provide true value-added by adding their own context to the content based upon user personalization criteria, both explicitly and implicitly derived.  In fact, this functionality, coupled with social networking, machine learning, and collaborative filtering is what transforms an ordinary aggregator into a "personal intelligence agent".  This is the sweet spot that Mentations is evolving to operate within.

In the end, I think it will come down to the necessity of needing to stay current with myriad data feeds in an information/net-driven society forcing a disassociation of the content from the context (i.e., via RSS or web services), thereby pushing the onus on the consumer to define the context.  Hence, we will have a dramatic rise in popularity of information aggregator software and its eventual evolution into personal intelligence agents.

Google - The Sidebar

The latest splash in the search wars is the Google Sidebar.  They have certainly taken the battle to the enemy with this one as their sidebar looks very similar to what MS has been working on involving their own sidebar software (most probably to be released with Windows Vista), not to mention the Desktop Sidebar software that has been out for some time now.  The Google Sidebar is certainly cool (as is Konfabulator, Desktop Sidebar, Apple Dashboard, and, eventually, the Windows Vista Sidebar).  However, it is only part of the answer to having a fully integrated "personal intelligence agent" at your disposal.  If you want to get a glimpse at the next two or three steps beyond what Google and the like are doing, check out my Mentations product at www.mentations.com.  While still an early beta, I hope the intent is clear as to the direction we are taking it!  BTW, any constructive criticism is most welcome.

Konfabulator - The Acquisition

Have you followed Yahoo's acquisition of Konfabulator?  Check out their Yahoo acquisition statement at http://www.konfabulator.com... very interesting.  Also, did you know that many accused Apple of stealing their Dashboard concept from Konfabulator?  FYI, here is more information on the Apple Dashboard: http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/dashboard/.  What’s my point you ask?  Well, just as I predicted ;^), the industry is finally beginning to realize the value and importance of taking all the disjointed information available on the internet, distilling it, and bringing it down to users’ desktops to provide information at a glance.  Now, if someone would only realize that I have been working on this problem for last couple of years in my Mentations product!  Argh.

Mentations - The Premise

Wouldn't it be cool if there was an application, a desktop dashboard of sorts, that unobtrusively monitored, analyzed, distilled, categorized, and reacted to all of your important net-driven information and provided it to you through an aesthetically pleasing "skinnable" interface??  This is what I have been working on for the last couple of years; I'm calling it Mentations.  The tagline for the product is "Transforming thought into action".  By this I mean software that will know you so well, your interests, goals, concerns, priorities, etc. that it will be able to be your "personal intelligence agent" on the web.  Not only will it collect, distill, and display pertinent information to you, but it will be able to react to information received with "meta-commands" that you have provided to it.  You will be able to fully automate these commands or require your final approval before execution.  An example you ask?  When your checking account balance falls below a certain limit, you instruct Mentations to transfer a $100 from savings to checking.  What do you think about the concept?  For more information check out the Mentations website at www.mentations.com.