July 14, 2010   DeepaMehta Development Group
      18:30-21:00, newthinking communications,
      Schönhauser Allee 6/7, Berlin (Mitte)
June 21, 2010   4. Kiezatlas User Group
      18:00-20:00, Verband für sozial-kult. Arbeit,
      Tucholskystraße 11, Berlin (Mitte)
Find passed events in the archive.

The DeepaMehta Community of computer engineers, cognitive scientists, artists and philosophers re-thinks the relations between human, machine and society.

newthinking store Tucholskystr. 48 10117 Berlin (Mitte)

The latest issue of the German Linux Magazine (September 2009) features a 6-page article about DeepaMehta. Editor-in-chief Jens-Christoph Brendel calls DeepaMehta a "forward-looking interface concept for possibly the most modern knowledge management for Linux". On the frontpage DeepaMehta is introduced as a "highly innovative colaboration tool".

Article teaser

In August 2009 the development of DeepaMehta 3 started. Version 3 is a complete rewrite. The aim is to combine the lessons learned from DeepaMehta 2 with todays technologies and methods. A special focus is put on modularity and a flexible plugin developer framework.

DeepaMehta 3 is based on CouchDB and Lucene. The frontend is a single-page Ajax application, based on JavaScript, HTML 5, and its Canvas element. No Java for the moment.

Sourcecode and issue tracking: DeepaMehta 3 at GitHub. Discussion: DeepaMehta 3 Google group. Try out: DeepaMehta 3 sandbox installation. To get an account write an email to jri@deepamehta.de

Issue 6/2009 (May 2009) of the extrakte magazine contains a screenshot of DeepaMehta. In his article "Data actors -- How metaphors model knowledge" Peter Matussek writes "In contrast to the 'Desktop' [metaphor] the DeepaMehta interface, like mind maps and concept maps, shows the semantic relationships between [information objects of] different datasources."

Peter Matussek is professor of media aesthetics. extrakte is a publication of the University of Siegen, Germany.

extrakte 6/2009 (German, PDF, 4.6 MB)

The CeBIT jury selected DeepaMehta for presentation at CeBIT Open Source Project Lounge. DeepaMehta community members Urs Lerch, Martin Delius, Malte Reißig, and Thilo Schönnemann use the opportunity to introduce the recently founded DeepaMehta society and to give a talk about utilization of DeepaMehta in education.

The CeBIT takes place March 3-8, 2009 in Hannover, Germany. The Open Source Project Lounge is hosted by Linux Magazine.

DeepaMehta is presented at Info-Activism Camp that takes place February 19-25, 2009 in Bangalore, India. In the track "Co-operation and Co-ordination" DeepaMehta community member Malte Reißig shows how DeepaMeta can be utilized to enhance the work of campaigners and advocates.

Since December 9, 2008 SE Group utilizes DeepaMehta as a knowledge management platform. SE Group considers DeepaMehta's multi-dimensional information repository and its collaboration features as ideal for sharing information among employees, and keeping international project partners in touch.

SE Group is a systemic consultancy with a strong academic background. They describe themselves as "Independant Think Tank for Leading Practice".

DeepaMehta is reviewed in "Web 2.0 -- Youth Online as Educational Challenge" (in German). In his chapter "Learning Tools for the Web 2.0 Generation" co-editor Franz Josef Röll writes: "DeepaMehta is a suitable learning environment because the screen content and layout is individually constituted by the user itself. [...] At any moment the screen reflects the individual learning situation as a whole."

The book was published on November 15, 2008, by kopaed, Munich.

On November 1, 2008 DeepaMehta is presented at the Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" Release Party. The party takes place at the Berlin hackerspace c-base and begins at 4 p.m. The DeepaMehta presentation is scheduled for 6 p.m.

DeepaMehta 2.0b8 has been released on November 1, 2008 and is available for download. New features since DeepaMehta 2.0b7 include (see details in the release notes):

• Remarkably simplified set up
• Extended team functions
• New application: shared calendars
• Extended email application
• Usability: easier navigation in search results
• For developers: convenient build and configuration management / more flexible HTML generator

We like to thank all the contributors and supporters.

On September 24, 2008 DeepaMehta CEO Andreas Gebhard presented the DeepaMehta platform at the BITKOM working group Knowledge Engineering & Management (KEM), hosted by USU AG.

Agenda (PDF, 40 KB)

In summer 2008 a group of media and computing students created a hypermedia backend with DeepaMehta for an information system for visitors to the penguin house at Berlin Zoological Garden. A Flash-based touch display was utilized as frontend. The application prototype ("SemKingPeng") was developed in the context of the BAER project.

BAER is an interdisciplinary R&D project that deals with new concepts for zoo management and is conducted by the University of Applied Sciences, Berlin (TFH).

→ "SemKingPeng" showcase (German)
→ Interactive demo (Flash required)
→ Article in BAER publication (PDF, 330 KB)
→ Download and create your own content

In June 2008 the article DeepaMehta -- Another Computer is Possible by DeepaMehta co-founder Jörg Richter and Dr. Jurij Poelchau was published in Emerging Technologies for Semantic Work Environments. The book is edited by Jörg Rech, Björn Decker, and Eric Ras, Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE).

Article Download (PDF, 2.9 MB)

The DeepaMehta semantic desktop project exhibits at LinuxTag 2008 in hall 7.3b at booth 3.

LinuxTag, Europe's leading exhibition on Linux and Open Source takes place from May 28-31, 2008 at Berlin's Messezentrum unter dem Funkturm.

On April 2, 2008, DeepaMehta is represented in two events at re:publica'08. At 4 p.m. Jörg Richter and Andreas Wichmann give the talk Shared Structures of Meaning -- How can technology support the social evolution? At 8 p.m. Malte Reißig and other community members host the hands-on DeepaMehta Workshop: After Eight.

The 3-day re:publica conference is about culture, media, politics and everyday digital life. Bloggers and other net citizens meet in Berlin. This year's motto is "the critical mass".

On February 4, 2008, Jörg Richter and Malte Reißig of DeepaMehta talked at FHTW Berlin with students of the seminar "Sustainability and IT". Topics were:

• What questions arise when applying Sustainability to information, knowledge, and digital media?
• Under what conditions is information a source of action?
• Do today's fragmented user interfaces make digesting information difficult or are they a fixed feature of post-modernism easily dealt with by young people?

The seminar was held by Oliver Passek, teacher of Business Communication Management.

Since December 2007 DeepaMehta is used as a project management tool at Vodafone Group R&D Germany. The employees maintain a shared corporate memory of project-relevant information resources and their relationships. Shared calendars provide an overview of the time schedule and automatized email notifies about the state of affairs.

All DeepaMehta features developed for Vodafone, mainly collaborative features, are open source and are integrated into the upcoming DeepaMehta 2.0b8 release.

DeepaMehta was used at the Sustainable IT conference in Berlin on October 17-18, 2007 as a collaboration and documentation tool. During the Open Inquiry process sustainability-related questions and answers of the conference's participants were mapped on a shared screen. The Open Inquiry was conceived by the Jugendbündnis Zukunftsenergie.

The Sustainable IT conference reflects the impact of information and communication technology on natural resources.

On September 28, 2007, the DeepaMehta company has been transformed into a limited liability corporation (GmbH in Germany). The DeepaMehta corporation offers professional services around the DeepaMehta software platform. Services include development of customized solutions, consulting, and application service providing.

Members of the company are Andreas Gebhard (CEO) and Jörg Richter (CTO).

The article DeepaMehta -- Another Computer is Possible (August 10, 2007) by DeepaMehta co-founder Jörg Richter and Dr. Jurij Poelchau has been accepted for publication in Emerging Technologies for Semantic Work Environments: Techniques, Methods, and Applications. The book is edited by Jörg Rech, Björn Decker, and Eric Ras, Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE). Publication is scheduled for end of 2007.

Article Download (PDF, 2.9 MB)

On May 31, 2007 DeepaMehta was introduced at the Google Developer Day 2007 in Hamburg/Germany. In his presentation "DeepaMehta -- the Metatool for the Google-Cosmos", DeepaMehta CEO Andreas Gebhard envisaged the integration of various Google APIs (search, mail, maps, ...) into the DeepaMehta semantic desktop.

The Google Developer Day 2007 took place all over the world simultaneously and its various sessions are available as web-video.

On April 23, 2007 the IT news portal ZDNet.de mentioned DeepaMehta in their article Web 2.0 im Business-Bereich: Bloggen oder lieber blocken? (in German). Lothar Lochmaier discusses the opportunities of social software and Web 2.0 for business and finds that DeepaMehta's approach vitalizes the subject of knowledge management through its easy-to-use features.

Episode 96 of the Küchenradio podacst contains an interview with DeepaMehta co-founder Jörg Richter. In this interview, he reflects about computers and cultural criticism: what we do with machines, and what machines do with us. The interview was recorded (in German) on April 12, 2007 during the re:publica conference in Berlin.

The second half of the podcast contains an interview with re:publica co-organizer Markus Beckedahl.

On April 12, 2007 a workshop focusing on DeepaMehta business applications takes place at the re:publica conference in Berlin.

The conference addresses philosophical, social, economical, and legal issues of the net (r)evolution in terms of Web 2.0, Open Source, and Social Media.

On January 23-26, 2007 DeepaMehta was presented at the Heise congress for CIOs, CTOs, and IT decision makers: Open Source Meets Business. The program committee selected DeepaMehta for the investment summit and a 3-day poster session.

On November 20, 2006 the first amina event was accompanied by DeepaMehta software for live mapping the amina topics, stakeholders, and relationships. See a picture.

The amina initiative aims to promote corporate responsibility (CR) projects by establishing a dialog between the 3 worlds: companies, universities and avant-garde thinkers. See a movie.

The amina knowledge platform is currently being build on the basis of DeepaMehta. An interactive public demo is already available (in German) at www.amina-wissensplattform.de

On November 14-16, 2006 the DeepaMehta company exhibited at LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in Cologne. The DeepaMehta Semantic Desktop was showcased on booth C16, which was shared with Sun Microsystems. Read the press release (in German).

LinuxWorld Conference & Expo Cologne is the most important information platform for professional corporate applications utilizing Linux and Open Source in Europe.

On September 13, 2006 DeepaMehta was presented at the warmup event for the Wizards of OS 4 conference in Berlin. WOS4 is covering the fields of free software, free knowledge, and free culture.

.

In its August 2006 issue the UK magazine LinuxUser & Developer has published a review article about DeepaMehta. Author Martin Howse gives DeepaMehta the maximum rating of 5 fishes for its fresh, new, and intriguing well researched ideas.

Review Download (PDF, 4.2 MB)

On June 25, 2006 DeepaMehta 2.0b7 was released. Besides bug fixes there are new features:

• Color chooser dialog (thanks to Volker Wegert)
• Sending email is simplified
• Simplified installation
• Simplified administration
• Extended HTML generator
• Extended forum application
• Extended Kompetenzstern application
• Some new icons (thanks to Harald Müller)

On May 30, 2006 Kiezatlas 1.3.3 was released. New features since version 1.2 include:

• Works for arbitrary cities / countries
• Institutions have their own web forums
• Arbitrary shapes on the map can be colored

DEMO, die Monatszeit-schrift für Kommunal-politik, berichtet in Ausgabe 3/2006 über die Kiezatlas-Plattform:

Mit Open Source preis-günstig informieren und aktivieren -- Open-Source-Software auf kommunaler Ebene: das Berliner Beispiel www.kiezatlas.de

Artikel Download (PDF, 3.8 MB)

On Jan. 16, 2006 DeepaMehta attracted numerous people at the Web Monday event in Berlin.

The highlight presentation was held by Jörg Richter, maintainer of the DeepaMehta project. A desktop beyond the metaphors of windows, directories, and applications that lays itself as a semantic network above the operating systems. Interesting approach, recommended for all interaction and UI designers to study... (from the blog Neulich Am Imbiss)

Read more feedback on the CosmoCode and summertime blogs.

Web Monday connects users, developers, founders, entrepreneurs, researchers, web pioneers, bloggers, podcasters, designers and other folks interested in Web 2.0 topics (in the broadest sense).

On November 21, 2005 the DeepaMehta company was founded to offer professional services around the DeepaMehta platform. Services include consulting, development of customized solutions, and hosting.

Members of the company are Andreas Gebhard (CEO), Jörg Richter (CTO), and Annette Leeb (COO).

DeepaMehta has been accepted for the workshop The Semantic Desktop -- Next Generation Personal Information Management and Collaboration Infrastructure at the 4th International Semantic Web Conference, Nov. 6-10, 2005, Galway, Ireland.

Accepted Paper:
DeepaMehta -- A Semantic Desktop (PDF, 850 KB)

To manage the team development process the DeepaMehta project uses the services of BerliOS Developer since November 1, 2005. Publically available are a bug reporting tool, a feature request tool, a sourcecode repository and mailing lists.

BerliOS Developer's mission is to enrich the Open Source community by providing a centralized place for Open Source Developers to control and manage Open Source Software Development.

DeepaMehta war Aussteller auf der itXnetz-connect, einer Messe der Berliner IT- und Medienbranchen, die am 7.10.2005 stattfand.

Im Rahmen des Panels IT- und Medienstandort Berlin präsentierte Jörg Richter die DeepaMehta-Anwendung Kiezatlas.

Am 8.9.2005 fand im Rahmen der Infoveranstaltung Linux in Berlin ein DeepaMehta Workshop statt.

Die zweite Linux in Berlin stand unter dem Motto "Linux und Open Source für kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen".

On August 20, 2005 DeepaMehta was presented at DenkWerkzeug 2005 II, a German conference about cognitive tools, personal knowledge management, semantic desktop, thinking aids, visualization techniques, cognitive ergonomy.

On June 24, 2005 DeepaMehta was presented at LinuxTag 2005, europe's largest event about Free Software, Linux and Open Source.

The DeepaMehta talk was part of the track Desktop Next Generation (just between the GNOME and KDE talks :-)

Schedule for June 24, 2005
Accepted Paper

Am 14.4.2005 hat die DeepaMehta-Lösung Kiezatlas den "Best Practice Award" der Wirtschaftsinitiative we make IT Berlin.Brandenburg in der Kategorie "eGovernment" gewonnen. Jörg Richter und Andreas Gebhard von der newthinking store GmbH nahmen im Rahmen der Berliner Fachmesse IT-Profits den Preis entgegen...   mehr auf newthinking.de

Der Wettbewerb wurde in Kooperation mit der ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg veranstaltet.

Am 12.5.2005 wurde DeepaMehta im Rahmen der Infoveranstaltung Linux in Berlin präsentiert. Jörg Richter (newthinking network) gab einen Einblick in die DeepaMehta-Plattform und Herbert Scherer und Reinhilde Godulla (beide Verband für sozial-kulturelle Arbeit) stellten die Referenzanwendung Kiezatlas vor.

Version 0.27   (March 3, 2005)

Every PC user can instantly try out the complete DeepaMehta platform by using this bootable Linux-CD.

The DeepaMehta Live-CD is based on the KNOPPIX Linux distribution.

Kiezatlas ist ein geographisches Content Management System -- eine Kundenlösung auf DeepaMehta-Basis.

Das kombinierte Jugend-Technik-Sozial-Projekt wurde im Sommer 2004 in Berlin gestartet: Jugendliche sammeln mittels Fragebogen und Digitalkamera Informationen über Geschäfte / Einrichtungen und stellen sie auf die Website www.kiezatlas.de.

Kiezatlas ist Open Source.

In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Verband für sozial-kulturelle Arbeit und der Internetwerkstatt Netti. Gefördert vom LOS-Programm.

Am 10.11.2004 wurde Kiezatlas beim Wettbewerb Erste Wege ins Netz als Best-Practice ausgezeichnet.

Am 2.11.2004 hielt Jörg Richter im Rahmen der Tagung NMI 2005 -- Neue Medien der Informationsgesellschaft den Gastvortrag Reducing the Semantic Distance.

Die Tagung wird vom Alcatel SEL Stiftungs-Verbundkolleg Berlin veranstaltet.
          

Am 27.10.2004 war der Vortrag Reducing the Semantic Distance im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung Medienproduktion im Wandel an der HFF Potsdam zu hören.

In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Lehrstuhl für Netzwerktechnologien und multimediale Teledienste der Universität Potsdam.

... mehr unter www.medienengineering.de

Reducing the Semantic Distance
Do we still work with applications, files and folders in 20 years?

October 15, 2004 / newthinking network / Berlin