I think you forgot the "crack" tag.

It's really gratifying to see some positive replies to all this. I wasn't aware of that ReadWriteWeb article - thanks for pointing me to it. I'm about to edit my post to link it up, because it provides some backup for my argument about gender bias in software architecture.

I'll check out your presentation; thanks for pointing me at that too :) And boo to IntenseDebate for screwing with the links. Sorry about that.

Thanks very much for the links, which show that the problem is far from limited to computer technology in the sciences. I certainly didn't mean to imply that it was just sexual discrimination - the "boys' clubs" cliques and the glass ceilings that result from them are a huge problem.

I've nosed around Redmine a little, but I haven't played with a demo or anything (the official one appears to be permanently offline). I don't have a Rails environment that I can test with, but I assume that the Redmine site itself is running the software - with that in mind it definitely looks like an improvement, if not the user-friendly panacea I'm after.

Thanks for stopping by :) This kind of thing has the potential to genuinely change the world. I'm really excited to see projects like yours emerging.

Yeah, but I get paid to be. :P

Hi Jonathan - check out the discussion with Tim above. There will be an upgrade from the classic branch to Elgg 1.x.

I think it's a markedly different case because Elgg is open source and the data is freely exploitable. The barrier is in terms of coding and time rather than commercial.

Nonetheless, I recognise that it is a barrier. The discontinuation of a software branch does illustrate why import/export formats are important. You'll hopefully be pleased to know that there are upgrade scripts in progress.

Thank you! I've been loving your Texas photos, by the way. Really beautiful.

I think there's a lot to learn from Twitter in terms of representing the way conversation and meeting new people actually works. They didn't do it on purpose, but the discovery of new contacts is a bit like meeting people at a party or a conference floor - through conversation.