Unsurprisingly my posts here tailed off pretty quickly. Sure there was ambition and drive to begin with (and there still is), but time follows it's own course and left little of it for me to dally here. So I'll attempt something like a summary of the intervening time between posts.
I finished working through the original 23 Things program. I can't recall learning anything shockingly new, but I'm generally on to new tech pretty quickly. I'm sure there were tools I hadn't encountered before, but so far none of them have been useful enough for me to consider using them on a daily to weekly basis.
I dabbled at the social networking sites, but found most of them less than endearing. I can see the uses of something like Facebook, but the interface made me want to avert my eyes and I'm still not convinced that privacy is taken seriously enough on Facebook. Many of the other tools seemed somewhat gimmicky, with little in the way of day-to-day applications.
The ones I do use regularly have all been rolled into my iGoogle page: Google Reader, GMail, Blogger, a gadget to post to Blogger, a gadget to search popular WoW databases, a pretty pony, my daily horoscope and the weather. I've also been working on a gadget to allow searches of the RMIT Library catalogue, but so far some versions of IE have issues with it so I've had to disable it until I can figure out what's going wrong.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
23 things, pt. 6 - get mashed on flickr
Part 6 involves flickr mashups. Before this I didn't have any firm definition in my mind of what exactly a mashup was. My flat-mate had played various mashup songs, which I didn't really get into. Sure, there is about 3 seconds of humour value, but beyond that the genre is not for me.
Now I'm of the opinion that mashup is just another of those catch-all hype words. So I set aside my amusement that mashups seem to get billed as new and exciting despite the fact tools like these have been around for years. I trawled this exhaustive list for flickr mashups, but didn't see anything of particular note or use until this one: steganography with flickr.
This tool takes a file and hides it in image data which then resides on flickr. I imagine with a few scripts set-up it could be relatively easy to use, but I don't think I'd ever need to (other than for the novelty value and to appease the tech geek within me).
It just occured to me that there is a mashup tool that I use regularly: Antiarc's sig image generator, which takes data from the Armory and pops it into a neat little signature image (the one below). But, it also illustrates one of the key problems with mashups. Notice in the image below the 0 Health, 0 Mana, 0 Kills? Well, these should all be somewhere around the 1500-2000 range. The Armory however, has issues at the moment which has the flow-on effect of breaking things like the signature image below. I had to re-size the image to squeeze it in, so the text isn't as clear as it should be.
So I can see the value in mashups, but I'd never rely on one given their dependency on external data sources.
Now I'm of the opinion that mashup is just another of those catch-all hype words. So I set aside my amusement that mashups seem to get billed as new and exciting despite the fact tools like these have been around for years. I trawled this exhaustive list for flickr mashups, but didn't see anything of particular note or use until this one: steganography with flickr.
This tool takes a file and hides it in image data which then resides on flickr. I imagine with a few scripts set-up it could be relatively easy to use, but I don't think I'd ever need to (other than for the novelty value and to appease the tech geek within me).
It just occured to me that there is a mashup tool that I use regularly: Antiarc's sig image generator, which takes data from the Armory and pops it into a neat little signature image (the one below). But, it also illustrates one of the key problems with mashups. Notice in the image below the 0 Health, 0 Mana, 0 Kills? Well, these should all be somewhere around the 1500-2000 range. The Armory however, has issues at the moment which has the flow-on effect of breaking things like the signature image below. I had to re-size the image to squeeze it in, so the text isn't as clear as it should be.
So I can see the value in mashups, but I'd never rely on one given their dependency on external data sources.
23 things, pt. 5 - flickr
I didn't have much experience with flickr before beginning this exercise. I'd wandered by a few times, directed primarily by links from friends, then wandered back off. Nothing about the site strikes me as particularly interesting or innovative.
Tags? Groups? Meh, they're a base-line expectation and hardly the kind of feature which will entice me to stay. The mapping features are nifty, but not enough to sway me to actively use flickr. All I really want out of a photo site is a simple interface, no ads and a reasonable amount of storage.
I have a bunch of photos on LiveJournal pics which suits me fine. I can structure galleries the way I want without any ads intruding, in a simple display. I don't think I'll be going back to flickr for anything other than links people send me.
Tags? Groups? Meh, they're a base-line expectation and hardly the kind of feature which will entice me to stay. The mapping features are nifty, but not enough to sway me to actively use flickr. All I really want out of a photo site is a simple interface, no ads and a reasonable amount of storage.
I have a bunch of photos on LiveJournal pics which suits me fine. I can structure galleries the way I want without any ads intruding, in a simple display. I don't think I'll be going back to flickr for anything other than links people send me.
Monday, December 24, 2007
cloud please
I've been naffing about with all the blogger settings, eg: breaking html/css where-ever I can.
But after fixing up a few things I decided a tag cloud was called for and implemented this one without any fuss! Next stop is a unified colour scheme and fonts.
But after fixing up a few things I decided a tag cloud was called for and implemented this one without any fuss! Next stop is a unified colour scheme and fonts.
break time
So much for that once-a-day posting régime... but it's Christmas now! (or near enough)
Back all-too-soon in January.
Back all-too-soon in January.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
23 things, pt. 4 - nul
Section 4 involves registering your blog on the PLCMC site, so instead I went and commented on the 21 lunges blog to show the other people involved where I'm at.
And now for something fun: library 2.0 VS web 2.0
I had wondered when Web 2.0 sprang up and it seems early 2004 is a reasonable number to go by if one looks at the graph produced from the link above. Library 2.0 starting up in late 2005 is fairly poor though: that's nearly a two year reaction time before libraries started to get on to 2.0 tech. Then again, Web 2.0 didn't seem to gain much ground until mid 2005 and it does take a while to get early adopters confident and then to help spread the skills around.
Good work PLCMC: library 2.0 VS 23 things
Check out that 23 things spike in mid 2007, which coincides with a doubling of the Library 2.0 searches!
And now for something fun: library 2.0 VS web 2.0
I had wondered when Web 2.0 sprang up and it seems early 2004 is a reasonable number to go by if one looks at the graph produced from the link above. Library 2.0 starting up in late 2005 is fairly poor though: that's nearly a two year reaction time before libraries started to get on to 2.0 tech. Then again, Web 2.0 didn't seem to gain much ground until mid 2005 and it does take a while to get early adopters confident and then to help spread the skills around.
Good work PLCMC: library 2.0 VS 23 things
Check out that 23 things spike in mid 2007, which coincides with a doubling of the Library 2.0 searches!
23 things, pt. 3.2 - learning contract
As part of the 7.5 habits lesson (the acronym for which reduces amusingly to H.E.L.L.), there is a learning contract. A learning contract boils down to the learner defining what they want to learn, how they intend to, potential problems and even a little procedure to try and stay on track. Sounds wanky? I thought so until earlier this year when I had to do one for my course and it turned out to be great! And so I present my:
Learning Contract
Goal
To be fully prepared for the RMIT Library 21 lunges program by the end of January 2008.
Obstacles
Time and interruptions. Normally time would be a considerable obstacle to getting such a program done at work. But the Summer period is fairly quiet and I have most of my seasonal work out of the way so I should be ok for time (at least until the start of January when two of my work-mates go on leave...). Interruptions are a bit harder. I'm generally happy to be interrupted with questions (usually tech related though I'm not actually working in that field), because it gives me a chance to move around and possibly learn something new. The morning is usually my best time to work uninterrupted and so I am setting it aside for this purpose.
Toolbox
Internet and books. The internet side is fairly self-explanatory, especially seeing as that is what the whole program revolves around. I'm not even sure if we have any books on the Web 2.0 fad yet. I think we have some Library 2.0 material, but I'll investigate this later. Interestingly, a lot of the 2.0 craze was foreshadowed in the Mage, the Ascension RPG supplement: Digital Web 2.0. I'm going to dig-up that book and see what else we're in store for.
Resources for help
I didn't quite understand the split between Toolbox and Resources for help... but I did forget to mention people in the toolbox section. There are a bunch of us preparing for the 21 lunges program, so it'd be a good idea to raise any questions and ideas with them to help us all prepare.
Path to goal
On my hand written notes for this section I have, tasklist with steps to goal, which is something I must have jotted down from the 7.5 H.E.L.L. audio because I'm not big on lists. What I do aim to do is: make at least one entry on here every working day and complete one of the 23 things tasks per day. With 23 working days between now and the end of January that should leave me with a few spare days for any kinks in my plan.
Check-in
As part of my daily efforts I will reflect upon my experiences as I need to and also set out what I plan to do for the next day.
Sign it!
While I understand the point of signing this, there is no way I'm putting my signature up here!
Learning Contract
Goal
To be fully prepared for the RMIT Library 21 lunges program by the end of January 2008.
Obstacles
Time and interruptions. Normally time would be a considerable obstacle to getting such a program done at work. But the Summer period is fairly quiet and I have most of my seasonal work out of the way so I should be ok for time (at least until the start of January when two of my work-mates go on leave...). Interruptions are a bit harder. I'm generally happy to be interrupted with questions (usually tech related though I'm not actually working in that field), because it gives me a chance to move around and possibly learn something new. The morning is usually my best time to work uninterrupted and so I am setting it aside for this purpose.
Toolbox
Internet and books. The internet side is fairly self-explanatory, especially seeing as that is what the whole program revolves around. I'm not even sure if we have any books on the Web 2.0 fad yet. I think we have some Library 2.0 material, but I'll investigate this later. Interestingly, a lot of the 2.0 craze was foreshadowed in the Mage, the Ascension RPG supplement: Digital Web 2.0. I'm going to dig-up that book and see what else we're in store for.
Resources for help
I didn't quite understand the split between Toolbox and Resources for help... but I did forget to mention people in the toolbox section. There are a bunch of us preparing for the 21 lunges program, so it'd be a good idea to raise any questions and ideas with them to help us all prepare.
Path to goal
On my hand written notes for this section I have, tasklist with steps to goal, which is something I must have jotted down from the 7.5 H.E.L.L. audio because I'm not big on lists. What I do aim to do is: make at least one entry on here every working day and complete one of the 23 things tasks per day. With 23 working days between now and the end of January that should leave me with a few spare days for any kinks in my plan.
Check-in
As part of my daily efforts I will reflect upon my experiences as I need to and also set out what I plan to do for the next day.
Sign it!
While I understand the point of signing this, there is no way I'm putting my signature up here!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
23 things, pt. 3.1
I rather enjoy a good ramble when it comes to entries like this and so I give you my 7.5 habits of effective lifelong learning, listed as they came, with commentary on each.
1. Goals
I'm great with goals. I get all inspired, decide what I want to do and then leap in. Two weeks later I'm lucky if I can recall what originally motivated me.
2. Responsibility for my own learning
I alternately suck and excel at this. If I'm interested my enthusiasm knows no bounds, if I start to loose interest, I'll trail off like I want to with this point.
3. View problems as challenges
Problems? What problems? It's all just a bunch of stuff that happens and nothing is a problem until you name it so.
4. Confidence in yourself as a competent effective learner.
Competent, yes. I love finding out new stuff and exploring new ideas. Effective, not always as I'm too easily distracted by minutiae.
5. Create your own learning toolbox
The internet is usually my main toolbox. Oh and my flat-mate if it involves in-the-flesh arty stuff (eg; Photoshop VS air-brushing by hand). And people, but many of those are via the internet.
6. Use technology to your advantage
I'm a tech geek, so this one is easy enough (well, unless one considers the amount of time I spend simply exploring and learning new tech as opposed to actually putting it to any specific advantage).
7. Mentors
I don't seek out people too much, I'm stubborn and probably have an overly high opinion of what I can do if I just sit down and think about it. Then again, there have been and are a number of people at work who I turn to as mentors.
7.5 Play
It's been a couple of weeks since I last climbed a tree (which is the ultimate form of play) and while I know I play, Ishould will play more.
1. Goals
I'm great with goals. I get all inspired, decide what I want to do and then leap in. Two weeks later I'm lucky if I can recall what originally motivated me.
2. Responsibility for my own learning
I alternately suck and excel at this. If I'm interested my enthusiasm knows no bounds, if I start to loose interest, I'll trail off like I want to with this point.
3. View problems as challenges
Problems? What problems? It's all just a bunch of stuff that happens and nothing is a problem until you name it so.
4. Confidence in yourself as a competent effective learner.
Competent, yes. I love finding out new stuff and exploring new ideas. Effective, not always as I'm too easily distracted by minutiae.
5. Create your own learning toolbox
The internet is usually my main toolbox. Oh and my flat-mate if it involves in-the-flesh arty stuff (eg; Photoshop VS air-brushing by hand). And people, but many of those are via the internet.
6. Use technology to your advantage
I'm a tech geek, so this one is easy enough (well, unless one considers the amount of time I spend simply exploring and learning new tech as opposed to actually putting it to any specific advantage).
7. Mentors
I don't seek out people too much, I'm stubborn and probably have an overly high opinion of what I can do if I just sit down and think about it. Then again, there have been and are a number of people at work who I turn to as mentors.
7.5 Play
It's been a couple of weeks since I last climbed a tree (which is the ultimate form of play) and while I know I play, I
23 things, pt. 3.0
Part 3? What happened to parts 1 and 2? Well, the first two items on the menu don't call for any entries and I thought I'd best go by-the-book on this one, instead reading over the list while muttering in my head, "Blogs, RSS, I know that stuff, show me something new"... though I did that anyway because I'm surly good like that.
I asked for something new and I got it! The 7.5 habits of effective lifelong learners was very good. It's the kind of list I'd read over and just mentally reduce to, "Duh", without ever actually taking the time to step through each point. Well, the next time I ask for something new it'll be a robotic attack raptor to guard my house (only that doesn't work).
I asked for something new and I got it! The 7.5 habits of effective lifelong learners was very good. It's the kind of list I'd read over and just mentally reduce to, "Duh", without ever actually taking the time to step through each point. Well, the next time I ask for something new it'll be a robotic attack raptor to guard my house (only that doesn't work).
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