Imagine a file system that supports greater agility in capturing meta-data about files, folders, and collections of related documents. Further consider that the file system is no longer bound to the LAN, but truly embraces Internet protocols and open standards such as Web services and XML. It would be possible to create and manage observations and annotations [e.g., blog posts] about file system objects just as you might with a file-system-enabled blog platform. I'm not sure which approach is better—blogs that are more file-system aware, or file systems that are more meta-data aware. Whatever the case (and both ideas are probably good) I believe this is precisely the direction that Longhorn is heading. Longhorn will include a new file system known as Windows Future Storage (WinFS) that not only will revamp the way data is stored on physical media, but also will make the process of finding and visualizing data and applications faster and easier. It won't surprise me to find that the XML interface to WinFS will provide Web services that make it simple to wrap blogging tools and similar personal publishing ideas around file system objects. "In many work environments, often a needed document sits on someone's computer."—J Baumgart This is a problem we tackled with a MyST application prototype called Sphere. In that example application, we created a model for blogging about documents—an approach that embraced the idea that enterprise information about documents was a useful step in chipping away at the goal of unlocking hidden knowledge resources that every enterprise possesses, but cannot see. Because MyST supports private and public channels, Sphere can leverage this security and permissions model to provide the ability for some documents to be visible to enterprise employees whereas other documents are private. Another aspect of Sphere is the ability to simply make the existence of document (e.g., it's meta-data) visible to the company. Direct arbitration with the author then ensues before a document is shared. The collaborative nature of knowledge-sharing is as important as the knowledge itself; this idea embraces the common belief that knowledge workers are protective of what they know. 
Another approach we've taken is the use of Microsoft Word as an authoring environment for MyST Weblogs called Office2Channel. This tool makes it possible to create documents in Word and simply publish them as blog posts. This opens the possibility for off-line composition and editing of blog posts while mirroring your local documents as Weblog items. In future updates of Office2Channel we will make it possible for selected parts of a document to post to the Weblog while the meat of the document remains localized. | 
