VidChat: MindTouch, Wikis, and 100Mbps

App-Rising.com is proud to present the first edition of VidChat, a series of conversations with those thought leaders who are powering the broadband revolution.

Up first, Aaron Fulkerson, founder and CEO of MindTouch, who I’ve written about previously here.

Here’s how they describe themselves: “MindTouch, recognized the world over for innovation beyond open source wiki collaboration and content management, is delivering a leading edge application integration and development platform. MindTouch Deki Wiki, built with a Web Oriented Architecture, enables users to connect teams, enterprise systems, Web services and Web 2.0 applications with IT governance.”

Let’s hear what he has to say!

(Quick note: Please excuse the static on my mic. I’ll get it resolved before the next installment.)

I had a blast doing this interview, especially the informal chatting before and after I hit record on the call. Aaron’s great because he’s not only smart and has a great idea with Deki Wiki, but he’s also really enthusiastic and positive about what’s possible through broadband.

As a followup, here are links that relate to topics discussed during the call:

- Aaron made mention of Consumer Reports writing about the use of Deki Wiki in a neighborhood watch, which I found here.

- For more insight into how Deki Wiki is actually being used to make groups of people more efficient, check out these case studies.

- Aaron was right in saying Metcalfe’s Law to refer to the idea that networks become exponentially more valuable the more endpoints it has.

- If you want to give Deki Wiki a try without having to download and install anything, you can use their free hosted version called Wiki.is to create your own wiki.

- Or download and install it on your own computer.

- The conference Aaron mentioned where MindTouch was going to be celebrating is OSCON, which stands for Open Source Convention, happening July 21-25 in Portland, OR, learn more here.

- While a little techie for most, ProgammableWeb.com “gets you the latest on what’s new and interesting with mashups, Web 2.0 APIs, and the Web as a Platform. It’s a directory, news source, a reference guide, a community.”

- Don’t know how I hadn’t encountered Live Mesh before, but it’s an application that redefines what your personal network means by getting all the pieces of your digital life to work together. I’ll write more as I learn more about it.

- The public housing project Aaron mentioned in San Francisco that’s getting 100Mbps is called Valencia Gardens Housing. It represents the first 240 units of an eventual 2,500 unit deployment to deliver not only fast but free Internet access. It’s an endeavor of the Internet Archive, “a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving a record of the Internet” and leverages the San Francisco municipal fiber network.

- I mentioned asking other applications developers about how having 100Mbps to every home would impact their businesses; well here’s the post I wrote about those experiences.

If you have any questions about MindTouch or Deki Wiki be sure to add them in as a comment below.

On the next AppRising VidChat - Peter Csathy, CEO of SightSpeed, makers of the application that made this videocall not only possible but easy and enjoyable as well.