Lots and lots of posts about SEOmoz's Web 2.0 awards. I have this visual what the award ceremony looks like and its not pretty as I invoke every stereotype about computer people that could be out there.
I'd expect to see You Tube, Twitter, Flickr, etc at bringing home the gold but some of these winners I've never heard of. Of course I don't do Content Aggregation or Genealogy or Philanthropy so I have no reason to know about them.
Not really too impressed as I'm not big on awards. They're just nice things that come out of good work (usually) then its time to move on to the next thing and not dwell on the past.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
On-line productivity
When I consider the words "online productivity", I tend to think its an oxymoron, like "military intelligence" or "constructive feedback". I mean, when you get on-line and start surfing, playing and looking around BAM! that's two or three hours of your life you'll never get back. Maybe you learned something, maybe not.
So I took my typical cynical attitude to start looking around to fulfil the requirement for Thing #17, online productivity. I was blown away at home stuff is out, most of it free, to help you and me organize and share our documents, work lives and other things we want to communicate.
For starters, I had no idea there were so many online office suites, calendars, documents, RSS Readers, start pages, invoice managers, time tracking apparatus, project management tools, to-do lists, personal organizers and on and on and on. Id' heard of Google Docs and Zoho but learned that most of the big players have a foot in the door. My favorite name: Adobe's Virtual Ubiquity. (ubiquity and ubiquitous are among my favorite words--don't ask me why).
Secondly, so much of this stuff is free! How long can that last? I will admit, I did not probe deeply into just what you get for "free". I suspect that if you want to put a lot of stuff online, there is a charge since advertising can only give so many a free lunch. BTW there are no such things as free lunches, right?
Anyhow, I'll probably create a Google Docs account in the very near future so I can share my paperwork for my model railroad. People will look at the pics on Flickr then find a link to take them to a map or timetable or other railroad-related doc. Pretty cool stuff.
So I took my typical cynical attitude to start looking around to fulfil the requirement for Thing #17, online productivity. I was blown away at home stuff is out, most of it free, to help you and me organize and share our documents, work lives and other things we want to communicate.
For starters, I had no idea there were so many online office suites, calendars, documents, RSS Readers, start pages, invoice managers, time tracking apparatus, project management tools, to-do lists, personal organizers and on and on and on. Id' heard of Google Docs and Zoho but learned that most of the big players have a foot in the door. My favorite name: Adobe's Virtual Ubiquity. (ubiquity and ubiquitous are among my favorite words--don't ask me why).
Secondly, so much of this stuff is free! How long can that last? I will admit, I did not probe deeply into just what you get for "free". I suspect that if you want to put a lot of stuff online, there is a charge since advertising can only give so many a free lunch. BTW there are no such things as free lunches, right?
Anyhow, I'll probably create a Google Docs account in the very near future so I can share my paperwork for my model railroad. People will look at the pics on Flickr then find a link to take them to a map or timetable or other railroad-related doc. Pretty cool stuff.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Playing in the wiki sandbox....no throwing sand!
Openness, trust, organic, fluid and observable.
These are five words that kept coming up over and over again every time I read something about wikis, what they are, why they exist. In some circumstance, they are probably a better communication vehicle than a blog.
The CML wiki sandbox looks like fun. Think I'll come back and play another day!
http://learnandplaycml.pbwiki.com/Favorite-Album
These are five words that kept coming up over and over again every time I read something about wikis, what they are, why they exist. In some circumstance, they are probably a better communication vehicle than a blog.
The CML wiki sandbox looks like fun. Think I'll come back and play another day!
http://learnandplaycml.pbwiki.com/Favorite-Album
Of bookmarks and tags
Wow, I was really NOT thinking Web 2.0 as I approached Delicious. My thinking is completely utiliatrian when it comes to bookmarks and tags, what they are and how they could be used. I would have never considered the idea of tag clouds that change like clouds in the sky depending on my bookmark needs at the moment. If I were to look at the Bookmarks I have on my home PC, many of them have been there for a long time and half of them aren't even used anymore. it requires effort to delete them so I don't. The tag cloud idea is one way to help end that problem.
So I start playing around on delicious and found some interesting stuff fast!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122461906719455335.html Tweet tweet
http://railsandtrails.com/default.htm trains and maps...oh yeah! This one is a keeper. Surprised I haven't run across it before.
http://www.libraryinstruction.com/info-tech.html Had to look for something like this..huge bibliography but kind of short on substance.
So in the space of just a few minutes, I found some stuff that is usable. That makes del.icio.us pretty usable. Good stuff.
So I start playing around on delicious and found some interesting stuff fast!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122461906719455335.html Tweet tweet
http://railsandtrails.com/default.htm trains and maps...oh yeah! This one is a keeper. Surprised I haven't run across it before.
http://www.libraryinstruction.com/info-tech.html Had to look for something like this..huge bibliography but kind of short on substance.
So in the space of just a few minutes, I found some stuff that is usable. That makes del.icio.us pretty usable. Good stuff.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
OK, Twitter is kind of fun. I thought it would be more like chat (yuck) but its something else, much more simple. It's cool how these little snips reflect a person's mood at the moment. I can see checking on this every now and then.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Web 2.0 Library 2.0 Steve 2.0
Maybe that should be Steve 1.5.
I think a lot of the stuff I have learned during Learn & Play is pretty cool. I had been "thinking" about setting up a Flickr account for months. L&P was the push I needed to actually do it. A year or two ago, I had a couple of RSS feeds that kept me up to date with news and sports. I got away from it and forgot about it. L&P was a nice reminder that such services are out there and can be easily incorporated into a digital setting where I visit almost every day. Still, there are things in L&P and Web 2.0 that are, well, just stuff to do.
Here's where a "gap" comes into play. To me, social networking is about personal interactions. It can be one-on-one, small groups, large groups. The difference, and the point where I disagree with some of the "Oh Web 2.0 is the end all and be all" is that to be truly effective and lasting, those interactions need to be face to face. Nothing can replace that.
Andrew Keen wrote an interesting article that discussed the seduction of Web 2.0. I don't agree with much of what he wrote, and think he is just wrong with his use of the Marxism analogy. Still, he has a point that so much of what is being discussed loses some of its impact as each individual waves his own flag (blog) and content gets lost in the collective whole of the web.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/714fjczq.asp
On the flip side, Bryan Alexander writes about the use of Web 2.0 for learning. A key concept here is social networking tools reduce the barriers to entry to the digital world for the average Joe. So we can set up a Keen vs. Alexander debate, both would score points, both would be right and both would be wrong.
http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/Web20ANewWaveofInnovation/40615?time=1224605792
I think Alexander's point for using this stuff for learning is more aligned with the way I feel about Web 2.0. I don't have the time to loiter on-line, just like I don't have the time to loiter down at Joe's Bar. Yet by learning about what's out there, I can pick and choose in my utilitarian way and get what I want out of Web 2.0. That's what it really needs to be about; my choice, my time, my way. (Sounds like a fast food commerical from the 70's doesn't it...the more things change, the more they stay the same)
I think a lot of the stuff I have learned during Learn & Play is pretty cool. I had been "thinking" about setting up a Flickr account for months. L&P was the push I needed to actually do it. A year or two ago, I had a couple of RSS feeds that kept me up to date with news and sports. I got away from it and forgot about it. L&P was a nice reminder that such services are out there and can be easily incorporated into a digital setting where I visit almost every day. Still, there are things in L&P and Web 2.0 that are, well, just stuff to do.
Here's where a "gap" comes into play. To me, social networking is about personal interactions. It can be one-on-one, small groups, large groups. The difference, and the point where I disagree with some of the "Oh Web 2.0 is the end all and be all" is that to be truly effective and lasting, those interactions need to be face to face. Nothing can replace that.
Andrew Keen wrote an interesting article that discussed the seduction of Web 2.0. I don't agree with much of what he wrote, and think he is just wrong with his use of the Marxism analogy. Still, he has a point that so much of what is being discussed loses some of its impact as each individual waves his own flag (blog) and content gets lost in the collective whole of the web.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/714fjczq.asp
On the flip side, Bryan Alexander writes about the use of Web 2.0 for learning. A key concept here is social networking tools reduce the barriers to entry to the digital world for the average Joe. So we can set up a Keen vs. Alexander debate, both would score points, both would be right and both would be wrong.
http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/Web20ANewWaveofInnovation/40615?time=1224605792
I think Alexander's point for using this stuff for learning is more aligned with the way I feel about Web 2.0. I don't have the time to loiter on-line, just like I don't have the time to loiter down at Joe's Bar. Yet by learning about what's out there, I can pick and choose in my utilitarian way and get what I want out of Web 2.0. That's what it really needs to be about; my choice, my time, my way. (Sounds like a fast food commerical from the 70's doesn't it...the more things change, the more they stay the same)
Library Thing (is that like Wild Thing?)
This could be kind of fun to play around with. I added only a few titles when I realized I could go on and on and on. If I were really interested in doing some social networking with other book lovers, this would be a good place to start. I'll keep this in the back of my mind as something to do some night when I can't get to sleep. Whoops, wait a minute. If I do this at 11:00 at night, it will only stimulate the brain even more and I'll never get to sleep. OK, this is something to do on a cold, rainy Sunday afternoon in Feburary or March when there is no football on TV.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/sthipes
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/sthipes
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