Time to start packing the bags!!

So that's what web 2.0 is all about!

Thank you Yarra Plenty Regional Library for putting together this program!  I have really enjoyed learning about what web 2.0 has to offer the everyday user.  I have certainly learned a lot about how user driven the web has become. All my friends have been ribbing me for the past few weeks, as to them I seem to have morphed into some kind of computer geek.  In actual fact, I feel like I've just scratched the surface!  But now I have the confidence to get my hands messy and have a go at things on the web that seemed to foreign to me in the past.  With a young child at home, and knowing how much technology will influence her life, I feel like I should at least try to keep up!  The web is changing the way people interact with each other, and I want to get the most out of the communication possibilities, so thanks again YPRL!  So now I'm off to check my facebook, skype some friends, listen to a few podcasts, and get the latest news from iGoogle news!  

Module 6 - Skype

I have been a user of Skype for around one year.  I got into it because of relatives overseas.  My partner also travelled to Europe for 5 weeks last September, so we did most of our communicating via Skype for free.  I love the video chat, it is so much nicer to see the person you are talking to.  Of course all this depends on your broadband plan.  I have found that it can chew through the download allocation (but I do love a long chat).  I have had no problems with connections using cable broadband and video chat.  If you know someone without a camera connected to their computer you can just talk away without the video.  Skype's big restriction is the computer you need to use it.  I know that you can buy Skype phones (I've seen them at the Optus shop) but they don't seem to be terribly popular.  

And like most other forms of internet based communication, you leave yourself open for some unwanted attention.  I have had a number of random people (mostly from Asian locations) try to make contact with me on Skype.  I can only assume their motivations are not great so I just block them from the outset.  It's easy to do, and not a real problem. 

Skype is a must if you make overseas calls to people with a broadband connection.  

Humor and an artist's message in Second Life

Humor and an artist's message in Second Life
Originally uploaded by janet.powell

Here is an image I found in Flickr relating to Second Life. Gotta have a sense of humour!

Module 6 - Second Life

About a year ago I saw a documentary on either ABC or SBS about Second Life, so it is a concept that was a little familiar to me.  However, no-one I know in the 'real world' has ever heard of it, nor do they have any interest in it.  It is quite amazing to think that so many people are using it and that the content is user driven.  I'm also astonished that there are so many other virtual worlds out there too! 

 I guess, like the real world, there are many facets to SL's 'in-world', some good, some bad.  I have had a good look through the resource material for this component of module 6, and I am surprised at how seriously this virtual reality world is being taken; by Universities, businesses, and artists.  The youTube video from Ohio University even notes that they offer entire courses in SL!  Regina Spektor (who is a favourite of mine) has her own SL site.  

But there is the obvious grubby side to it all with the porn and cyber sex industry (which accounts for 30% of SL's content).  I note that there is a level of security involved in trying to restrict this content from minors, but as a parent this is of concern.  There is a second life available to under 15's, but I am unsure if this world is restricted from adult users.  On line communication has been widely used by sexual predators to make contact and form relationships with children, and SL seems like it would be just another tool for them, and one that would be difficult to monitor at this time.  (Has my job made me over cautious?)

So will we eventually spend more time in SL that the real world?  Not me!  I like the satirical comments on getafirstlife.com : "WARNING: Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries and the experiences it references my be habit forming.  If you find yourself unable to escape from the virtual library environment, put down the book, disconnect your computer, and seek immediate real world attention!"  We can only hope that the real us remains more engaging than any avatar incarnations.  

Module 6 - Facebook, Ning and LinkedIn

About the same time as starting this Web 2.0 learning experience, I decided to get in on the facebook act.  It was the mention of facebook that drew my attention to this online learning, as I was interested in it for catching up on long lost school friends.  After looking at MySpace I sure prefer facebook.  It is easier to use and has a community feel that I didn't get from MySpace.  

Back in the old analogue days of pen and ink, I travelled to the USA as an exchange student during year 11 of high school.  The 20 year anniversary of which is looming, and I was wanting to make contact with people from school prior to a planned return visit.  In the last few weeks I have been able to find three old school mates in the US, plus a bunch of other people.  I can definitely see the attraction for people to facebook, it is very easy to loose track of time whiling away the hours searching for friends, and wasting time with all the applications available.  

Of course, I am now a fan of Yarra Plenty Regional Library and I have added the YPRL application to my profile for searching the catalogue from facebook.  

When reading the resource material, it was interesting to see how the ability to spread information and contacts has been capitalised upon by companies creating facebook applications.  The idea of applications spreading like a virus is easy to witness amongst my own friends.  As soon as one person adds an application, it only takes a short while before others follow suit.  I can only see FB getting bigger and bigger and bigger.....  

I also joined up with Ning and LinkedIn, the other networking sites mentioned on the Web 2.0 blog.  For me, Ning was great and I lost a few hours wondering around sites related to my field of work.  LinkedIn was much the same, there were a number of groups related to my field of work, but they were created for and by overseas organisations.  At this time, I don't really have a need to create a network of professional contacts, particularly overseas.  It would be more relevant if there were Australian based groups, and I suspect it is only a matter of time.  

Next stop, second life...? 

Module 6 - My Space and Drupal

Over the last couple of days I have been checking out Module 6.  And yes, I have heard of mySpace before, and I have even been there before.  (So I'm not so out of the loop after all...)  But, it doesn't hold my interest for me, and I am not about to start up a mySpace site for myself.  I listened to the "sunrise" segment about the internet and safety issues.  It is a real concern and it is easy to be complacent about our privacy on the internet at times.  It's all too easy to 'put it out there' thinking that it's only the friendly element that will access our information.  But from my own work experience I can attest that this is not always the case and common sense should prevail and people should be mindful of who they are inviting into their world.  This is a rule of thumb that teenagers all too often turn a blind eye too and leave themselves vulnerable to predators.  I can also see that mySpace could be a great outlet and contact source for many people.  I'll leave them too it for now.

Regarding Drupal, I have had some trouble getting my head around it.  I am not internet savvy and have no idea about web page construction or what it all means, so I think a lot of the advantages of Drupal and it's overall concept is lost on me.  I can see that there is a mountain of users, and I viewed the slideshare presentation, but again, I think the info was a little out of my league.  From what I could understand, it's a great resource is you already have the users waiting for a space to access information, such as a library community or school/university.  The slideshare presenter hinted on the ease of web site construction using Drupal, but there was still a lot of lingo that I had no clue about.  I also read some feed back comments that there is some cost involved in using Drupal, but I expect it is less than paying a web designer to do the work for you.  It will be interesting to see what other's learn of it.  The next section is facebook, which is a last a component of this learning experience that I know a little about.  I started my own face book profile around the same time as starting this blog.

I'm really happy with my iGoogle page, and I have used it for the last couple of days to access google news, youTube and Facebook.  I saw these "America's got talent" clips and thought they were pretty cute.  I have posted them in the side bar or click on my hyper link.

Module 5: Google Maps

Unbelievable!  I have heard a lot of buzz about google maps lately, and my partner used it a week ago to downloaded directions from Hawthorn to Venus Bay, but I haven't used the site myself.  Many years ago someone showed me a satellite view of my house on a mobile phone, so I knew that such imagery was out there, I just haven't sought it out.  I completed the exercise of finding my house and getting directions from home to work.  I checked out the photos of the route too.  A picture tells a thousand words, no excuse for getting lost if you have this on your mobile phone!  

I wonder about the self editing capabilities of Google maps, to some extent you rely on others to enter the data correctly, which must leave plenty of room for error.

I read the wikipedia Google info, future generations will only know our planet as Google Earth.....  Its a Google take over.

Module 5: iGoogle

I have just completed the iGoogle section of module 5.  Firstly, they were right from the beginning when they said you could create your iGoogle page in 30 seconds! Make that about 10 seconds.  It was so easy that it wasn't until I logged out and back in again did I believe that I had created it.

It was easy to set up the page with the gadgets listed in the module exercise and I found a few extras along the way.  I have personalised my page with an artist theme, and rearranged things to how I think they will work best for me.  

Then I watched the youTube clip on working at Google, and I'm surprised that any work gets done there at all (my employer doesn't even provide tea and coffee!), but obviously the work does get done, and who knows what they will come up with next.  

This web 2.0 has really opened my eyes to what is available out there, and to think that just ten years ago the world wide web was just an infant.  The aspect that strikes me is how easy the web is to use and manipulate to your own needs with the likes of iGoogle, Flickr, Library Thing...etc.  But with the overwhelming tide of information out there, it is logical that someone is making it easier for us narrow the field and aim for what interests us.  Pretty soon you wont even have to google anything, the web will second guess what it is we want to know and offer it up when we log on.  But would all this silver platter service make life easier, or would it take the  mystery, intrigue and excitement out of the process of discovery and learning? 

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Here are some pic's from a recent trip to Wilson's Promontory.  First one is Tidal River, the other two are of Squeaky Beach.

A recent product of life drawing session. (Indian ink wash on paper.)

I have just learnt how to include a web link in my text post. (It may be a simple thing to some, but I am finding my way here.)  So now I will include relevant links in my posts.  I went back and popped a couple into old posts just too see if I knew what I was doing.  Happy bloggin' 

Module 4 - youTube, Podcasts, ebooks

I have been having a look around youTube, which is a definite time sucker.  I have tried looking at the podcasting sites too.  (The Yahoo Podcasts link @ YPRL blog didn't work for me, and I couldn't find it elsewhere.)  I didn't realise there was sooooo much out there! I already subscribe to Dr Karl's science show on Triple J and listen to it with iTunes, but I as a result of this "taste of web" exercise, I have found a book review program, 'The Penguin Broadcast' that I have had a listen too also.  There is lots out there to discover, given the one important ingredient: TIME.  

I have also had a browse of the ebook sites and I downloaded a couple of books at random, that I deleted after I found they were not of any great interest to me.  I later found an interesting book about drawing that's now sitting on my desktop waiting for, you guessed it, TIME.  I'm not sure if reading a book on my computer screen is a real option for me, I prefer the analogue version of paper and ink.  

As I am a mac user, the overdrive media resource was not an option for me as it uses some sort of windows software that's not compatible with my mac. 

Librivox would be a great resource for those happy to let someone else do all the work.  I had a listen to "The Man Who Knew Too Much" but I really prefer to do the reading myself.  

Of all these items in module 4 my favourite is the podcasting.  I like the idea of being able to listen to a radio show when it suits me, not when it goes to air.  If I had an ipod I would definitely be filling it up with my favourite shows to listen to in my leisure.  However, I don't think creating my own podcast is my idea of enjoyment, for me or the listener, I'll spare the world of that!   

Module 3 - Library Thing

Last post for today, I have just been trying out Library Thing! It's fantastic.  Want to start listing all my books 'read' and 'to read' here from now on.  See my link....