I'm sorry, I'm just too busy with moving to Guam for all these words.  I think that's why I got so annoyed. 

 

"I believe that misunderstanding is a two-way street here and I ask that we don't look into the words too deeply here and move on.. "  Thanks.  Please lets.  

 

I myself should just bow out and not even try beyond this to better this understanding untill I'm clear of my urgent personall stressors because right now I don't have the energy.   I'll see you all later and hopefully I will express myself better next time.

 

Blessings,

Antares

 

Very sorry if any of my comments sounded emotional and have offended you in any way Antares. Again no harm was meant.

 

I guess the fact that:

- I did not show appreciation for your ideas (though I do appreciate them. Can't proof this though except by my words.) - I did not respond to the main topic of your suggestion (that caused you to assume I haven't read your entries. Did this because I thought it's been adequately addressed by MichaelK) - I used the phrase "sooth your concern" (which seems to have a pretty serious negative connotation I'm unaware of. Note: I'm not a native speaker of English)

somehow have caused a misunderstanding between us here.

 

To set things clear, I'd like to say that I was just trying to respond to your following comments:

 

1. ...the site came off looking very biased towards the establishment.

(This sounds a bit like an "attack" on the spirit of WiserEarth creators to me, because generally the term establishment has a negative connotation. From www.andyturnbull.com/sys/gloss.htm : "[establisment is] the metasystem that rules a human society. It usually includes priests, leading teachers, soldiers, land-owners and sometimes the most wealthy citizens." )

 

2. ... I'd rather have no interest list if its going to be created by the administers.   I'd rather the site be totally in the hands of its users.

(The two quotations was meant to show that eventually, WiserEarth will totally be in the hand of the users. But since the users will always include NCI folks, I had to mention it. And that's also the reason why I notify you about the opensource platform for WiserEarth which anyone can freely use to build a whole site like WiserEarth, including a whole new set of areas of focus. Note: more info on how the areas of focus got created at the bottom of this comment).

 

3. ...  True leaders avoid all attatchment and give their power over to their followers.

(I guess the two quotations and the opensource platform should answer this. But apparently not.)

 

So, if any words I said somehow left an impression other than an attempt to clarify and inform, I have only myself to blame.

 

Peace,

Bowo

 

----------------

 

More info related to point no.2 was a Q&A I had with an NCI staff a while ago on how the areas of focuse came to be established.

 

Q: What is the general policy (guideline) of the taxonomy design? (i.e. How did the current taxonomy came into being and how will this guideline determine the development of the taxonomy in the future?) A: It was driven by the content that was found through researching the 100,000 organizations that populate the organizations database. We had about 100 people all over the world (including staff, volunteers, interns) who inputted the data and helped to develop the taxonomy based on their research (if the work of an organization didn't fit with any of the existing AOFs, a new area was created. A naturalist also helped to consult on the AOFs and many of his recommendations were integrated into the list.

Click here for more details on the discussion around building a top level taxonomy for the areas of focus.

 

Hi Antares, no harm was meant on my last comment. Just a friendly reminder.

 

Of course I understand that even a simple log-in to WiserEarth is a contribution to the community (showing that you still care). Not to mention thoughts, ideas, additions, comments, edits, invites, networking, etc.!

 

As I'm sure you'll understand, building a global community base for WiserEarth (or any other social networking site for that matter) can not happen overnight. WiserEarth by the way, has just turned one year old last Earth Day. So, it's kinda early in the journey.

 

That's why I thought there was a-little-rush or in-a-hurry tone in your comment, and decided to write that reminder. If that's not enough, then I guess you'll just have to see for yourself, whether WiserEarth is worthy of your time and effort or not. It certainly is worthy of mine.

 

In general, I have very high regards for the quality of intention and the spirit of service that NCI folks and other users in the community has shown so far. I hope you can see this too.

 

Cheers,

Bowo

# Writing from Jakarta, Indonesia

# Got any non-U.S. friends you'd like to invite into the WiserEarth Global Communities group?

# FYI, the code of the software underlying WiserEarth, WiserPlatform, has just been released under an opensource license. With it, anyone can create a site like WiserEarth. Should you ever decide to make one...

Antares said "I'd rather the site be totally in the hands of its users."

 

Well, this site is created by NCI, and NCI folks naturally are WiserEarth users too. But don't worry, the About Us page has this nice passage to sooth your concern: 

 

"WiserEarth will always be a work in progress. We hope WiserEarth community members will donate their time and intellectual property to help make WiserEarth a true global resource. The history from this point onward is collaboratively written by all of us - the community."

 

And Paul Hawken (the "user" who originated WiserEarth) said:

 

"The success of WiserEarth does not depend on garnering a complete database of all the environmental and social justice organizations worldwide, but on our ability to create a network that takes on a life of its own - one that is wholly owned and grown by the global community."

 

So, guess we'll be seeing more of you around then Antares ;)

 

Cheers,

Bowo

I agree on more out-of-the box options..but this is a broad suggestion that needs to be broken down. 

If you want a user-generated system,  one solution I've been advocating is a suggestion on tagging, this will encourage aggregation of orgs, resources,etc. on more outside the box options...but the focus  is not on "opening up" the current areas of focus system to any user... as it was created to provide a general structure that many users and orgs could understand and use to associate themselves with each other.  So I think a tagging structure would co-exist with the current aofs (or topics of interest)

If you want to see an "alternative education or private education" aof, you should make those suggestions here (Areas of Focus Suggestions)

I totally agree that expanding/revising the Topics of Interest is necessary. Assuming that the existing list was an initial 'best-guess' approach at having topics to get things going on WiserEarth, I think that credit needs to be given to the people who created WiserEarth and did a magnificant job -- however, as it has matured, I think it is becoming obvious to members, that additions will always be needed.