4ever Learning Mom

Inspiring, inexpensive journals

2021-05-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

Have you ever looked for that special journal and you just can't find one you like?

A journal you like picking up and opening, just before you put your thoughts to paper?

Or the ones you like cost $20 or more?

Check out the unique journals I designed -- they're available on Amazon for a great price!

https://www.amazon.com/Thoughts-musings-lined-blank-journal/dp/B09244W4WS/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=thoughts+and+musings+journal+with+tree&qid=1621354618&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/journal-Purple-lined-celtic-design/dp/B093B4M38K/ref=sr_1_134?dchild=1&keywords=purple+journal+with+celtic+knot+design&qid=1621355147&sr=8-134

https://www.amazon.com/journal-5x8-lined-galaxy-cover/dp/B093B8H612/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=my+journal+galaxy+journal+lined+Sonia+Molineux&qid=1621355396&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/notebook-purple-Celtic-knot-designs/dp/B0924125NZ/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?dchild=1&keywords=my+celtic+notebook+sonia+molyneux&qid=1621355503&sr=8-1-fkmr0

https://www.amazon.com/My-2021-Food-Journal-Galaxy/dp/B0939ZG3FC/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=food+journal+galaxy+sonia+molineux&qid=1621355596&sr=8-1

Artificial Intelligence and You

2020-01-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

Artificial intelligence is radically impacting your online user experience. Your favorite browser’s homepage and shopping sites are increasingly made-to-order to suit you perfectly. The longer AI is around, the better it gets at knowing what you like and what makes you buy, participate, and care!

What’s AI and UX?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is more than self-driving cars! It’s a new way for computers to process information. Rather than just following commands, AI collects images, videos, and content that you liked in the past and uses that to anticipate what you’ll like in the future. Computers using AI smarter over time and create better solutions.

User experience (UX) is your emotions, beliefs, and preferences in response to your online experience. Anything that makes you respond to the online content you are seeing; anything that makes you interact online. (International Organization for Standardization, n.d.)

AI is used to understand you better. Does this result in more sales? Sure! But it may also increase your loyalty to a site or brand and make your time spent online more enjoyable.

How does it do that?

History, categories and algorithms – AI categorizes you into groups of other like-minded people. Images, videos, and design will also be categorized. Match these categories with your browsing and purchasing history, and voila! AI can offer you what you like and how you like to see it. That’s how Netflix and Amazon know how to make successful and useful suggestions.

Algorithms–not just for Facebook anymore! Algorithms are calculations made with collected data and the categories AI has developed. The results are meant to anticipate your emotions, responses, and preferences. (Kosmayer, 2019)

Great! Where will I see AI?

The more personalized your websites become, the more human an experience you’ll feel you have. At least, that’s what the big tech companies are hoping. (Irfan, 2019) Search bars better anticipate what you need. Customer service chatbots are more conversational. (Lounge lizard, 2017)

The top tech companies are developing and deploying AI throughout their products and websites as rapidly as they can. (Marr, 2019) The market is expanding into the hundreds of billions.

Google uses it for more accurate and personalized search results. AI customizes the design and content of your homepage.
Netflix uses AI to suggest new shows and movies. It’s working; AI suggestions account for 80% of Netflix streaming. (Irfan, 2019)
Amazon suggests products based on what you bought, what you viewed, and what similar buyers viewed or purchased. Amazon emails suggest new purchases based on all of this data. (P.K., 2019)
Facebook uses AI to automatically analyze the content and emotions of your posts; it’s called DeepText. Another AI technology, DeepFace, is used to instantly recognize your face in photos. Facebook uses AI to identify and remove inappropriate content. (Marr, 2019)

What’s next? Any concerns?

As AI advances, your online UX will transform into a more individualized experience. Your needs and interests will be anticipated. Getting the info you want and finding what you’d like to buy will be even easier.

There are a few things to think about though. What happens to imagination and creativity when we’re so used to seeing customized content? Will AI just further separate us, only showing us content that reaffirms our social and political beliefs? Will our online experience become bland and predictable?

by Sonia Molineux

I’m a mom and I love to learn. Currently, I’m discovering e-commerce at American Military University. I’ve been a naval intelligence officer and earned a master’s from the School of International Service at American University and a bachelor’s from Rutgers College. My husband and I plan to start a web services and analytics company.

References

International Organization for Standardization. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:9241:-210:ed-1:v1:en

Irfan, M. (2019, October 29). Artificial intelligence and the future of web design. Retrieved from Usability Geek: https://usabilitygeek.com/artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-web-design/

Kosmayer, D. (2019, April 17). How AI can improve the UX of websites and landing pages. Retrieved from Usability Geek: https://usabilitygeek.com/ai-improve-ux-websites-landing-pages/

Lounge lizard new york website design shares 6 reasons to use AI in your business website. (2017, August 4). Retrieved from PR Newswire: https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/docview/1925766874?accountid=8289

Marr, B. (2019, December 9). The 10 Best Examples Of How Companies Use Artificial Intelligence In Practice. Retrieved from Forbes.com: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/12/09/the-10-best-examples-of-how-companies-use-artificial-intelligence-in-practice/#2016bbdf7978

P.K., R. (2019, February 11). How Artificial Intelligence is changing web design and web development. Retrieved from Acodez: https://acodez.in/artificial-intelligence-web-design/

Comparing Social Media Sites & What's Skype and IM?

2019-11-24T11:28:00.000-08:00

Comparing Social Media Sites

	Facebook	Twitter	YouTube

Size	Largest: over 1 billion active accounts	680 million/305 million active accounts	6 billion hours watched per month
Purpose	Communication, sharing, real-time interaction	Read the latest, communicate, and share in 140 characters	Video portal
Basic Features	Connecting to friends and family on Facebook; Easy to upload photos and comment and reactions with emojis/GIFs	Chronological posting; topic sharing with hashtags; users directly addressed using @	Watch and comment on videos on almost any topic; become part of a community who follows particular youtubers
Commercial	93% of all marketing specialists use FB; largest reach of all social media	Most retail companies use Twitter; instant feedback by customers/users	Social influencers use YouTube; marketing uses this avenue and is increasingly posting stand-along videos
Sharing	Yes – share icon	Yes – retweet icon	Yes
Post Photos	Yes -- Easy	Yes	As a cover page to the video
Post Videos	Limits w/in regular page; Separate video area allowing real-time comments and reactions	Yes	Yes
Personalization	Cover Photo and Profile Photo; create and/or join groups; create personal profile; “friend”	Profile photo; short profile; follow; create a survey	Subscribe to channels; thumbs up or thumbs down
Shopping	Has own marketplace; actively suggests new pages/products/brands based on likes and activity on homepage	Ads and suggests new accounts to follow based on prior activity	Ads and suggested vendors
Gaming	Yes	No	No, but YouTube videos on gaming are immensely popular as are live gaming videos
Ease of Use	Very high	Easy to get familiar without an account; easy set-up of account	Very easy to search, watch, save and comment on videos
Utilize Contacts	Often suggests you recommend to your contacts; feature that searches for people you might know	Twitter suggests trends based on general popularity and those who you’ve followed.	YouTube suggests videos based on your likes and viewing history
Negatives	Ads can be overwhelming; suggesting activities for your contacts can become invasive; the app’s algorithms leave out posts	Instant feedback and character limit and topic grouping via # can snowballing controversy. General public can knowingly or unknowingly take over a media campaign	Strong competition within any type of video posting guarantees swift and intense criticism
Security	Users often unaware of public vs. private and the ability to share selectively to protect privacy. Could do more to emphasize security elements.	Little security with all posts public; use of bot accounts creates false impressions of followers and retweets	Ads can be inappropriate as can be suggested videos.
Instant Messaging	Offers IM through Messenger	Direct messaging	No
Reviewer’s Comments:	I highly recommend Facebook for anyone interested in creating and maintaining long-distance relationships as well as local groups of friends. It’s an easy way to reconnect and to stay up-to-date with local events, promotions, your groups’ activities. It’s a way to get daily motivation or encouragement. Features like Jobs and Townhall give a feeling of your favorite newspaper. Although privacy issues plague Facebook, it still offers the most for your effort.	I recommend Twitter for the politically engaged and those interested in the very latest pop culture. Twitter trends influence news and culture. I recommend users be aware of new followers; I have blocked accounts that are obviously bots (canned phrases and little twitter history). Always be aware that all posts are public!	YouTube videos are great for following the arts or to learn how to do something. It can even be your job! It is working to improve protection of children. YouTube is facilitating the creation of videos. It can also become an obsession. It is most like watching TV and allows access to episodes and videos.

Reference

Digital Guide, (May 8, 2019). The most important social media platforms at a glance, IONOS. Retrieved from https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/online-marketing/social-media/the-most-important-social-media-platforms/

Skype

Skype is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. Voice data is sent in packets using the internet allowing calls and video calls without phone service. There is peer-to-peer encryption. It is low cost, pay as you go with Skype to Skype and instant messaging being free.

Skype is more than just the video phone or meeting service I thought it was. It encourages the creation of groups and chats to be a combination of instant messaging and video site. It was easy to download and has a search function. Disadvantages are that there are no emergency service calls and the call quality can be affected by bandwidth. Although no longer the most popular VoIP provider, it is the service that made the world aware of and using VoIP.

I have used VoIP for business meetings and I thought it was amazing. So much easier to use than video teleconferencing in the old days! I haven't thought to use VoIP instead of phone service. I think eventually we will all use it more as the phone providers keep raising prices! Although, when there have been power outages, cell phone service was restored first.

Reference

Unuth, Nadeem, (August 21, 2019). What Is Skype and What Is It For? Lifewire. Retrieved from https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-skype-3426903

Instant Messaging (IM)

There are many ways to message someone instantly using the internet. There are services dedicated to IM such as Viber, ICQ, and Pidgin. Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and other social media sites have their own messenger or direct messaging services. Many email services also have IM capabilities such as AOL, Yahoo, and Google. In addition to reaching online friends or business associates immediately, chat groups can be created. The user can talk, stream, play sounds and videos as well as share files and links.

IM will facilitate more work from home and better worldwide business collaboration. As IM services also incorporate VoIP, communications are likely to change dramatically. The workplace will be less and less one, brick and mortar location. Worker happiness may improve as schedules get more flexible. One concern is that IM can interfere with downtime. Like work texts, there may be no escaping the job. Supervisors might exploit instant availability to workers.

I have to admit, I rarely use IM. Most of the time, I don't want to be reached instantly. I find the group chats to be the most useful when planning or sharing. When I use IM, it's through Facebook Messenger.

Reference

Cooper, Alison and Tyson, Jeff, (March 28, 2001). How Instant Messaging Works, HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved from https://computer.howstuffworks.com/e-mail-messaging/instant-messaging.htm

Social Media and Communication Skills

2019-11-20T09:37:00.003-08:00

My favorite social media platform is still Facebook, despite all of the recent concerns about their practices. I have reconnected with so many old friends and family. It’s easy. We all enjoy sharing favorite photos and life events. My dance mom friends and I like to share some videos. I only have a few friends who share 20 times a day or tend to pose a bit. I like the flexibility. I don’t appreciate Facebook’s algorithm for its app. I don’t see all that’s posted like on the website. If I click “Recent” that means I want all that’s recent. Not their selection. They should save that for NewsFeed or whatever the little house means.

Of the different ways of communicating we’ve explored as a class, I think I’ve preferred podcasts slightly over blogging, although the technical challenges of audio recording and editing have been hard for me to deal with. I read blogs and I do look forward to writing more of them. There’s a connection I get from the podcasts--the human connection). A really great writer can do that as well though. Facebook has the benefit for me of not being fully public. Just friends and friends of friends. It can be a bit overwhelming with blogging and podcasting to think anyone can read or hear the posts. I do like the idea of Facebook groups of “like” communities – it’s a nice in-between place between private and fully public.

Communication and Soft Skills

Communication skills these days are more than the ability to write and speak effectively and clearly. These skills can be used through many ways of representing yourself or your organization: blogs, ads, website text, videos, voice-over, customer service, managerial skills, and being a good co-worker. Soft skills (also known as people skills) include the ability to communicate effectively, flexibility in dealing with co-workers, managing others, dealing with managers, and handling (and caring about) customers.

Social media success is highly dependent upon both excellent communication skills and well-developed soft skills. These skills help any organization’s success. An organization should want to present itself effectively and have successful employee relations.

Within an organization, both the manager and the employee need to clearly express their needs. Skilled and engaging writing and presentations (blogs, videos, websites, ads) contribute to a successful social media presence. Customer service interactions are very direct through social media and require flexibility and responsiveness. Tech savvy is only one part of a social media presence and an organization’s success. Communication skills contribute highly to the ability of an organization to present itself as it wants to be publicly perceived through all media, including social media.

Reference

Doyle, A. (2019, June 25). Important Social Media Skills That Employees Value. Retrieved from thebalancecareers.com: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/social-media-skills-2063726

Three Web 2.0 Concepts

2019-11-03T16:02:00.006-08:00

Collective Intelligence

I chose collective intelligence as a concept that illustrates the best of what all of us can contribute and gain from universal access and interactive contributions. (O’Reilly, 2006) When there’s an opportunity for many people to interact and contribute to a problem or to respond to an issue, there’s the potential for more than just quick, snappy comments or eye-catching photos. For example, when an issue and perhaps a person representing an issue becomes more than just that issue. Collective knowledge, concern, and future action over that issue can be influenced. Unfair and abusive behavior can be checked by the larger entity of concerned citizens.

An example of the power of collective intelligence in action is Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish climate activist. A young girl in Sweden who is different than a lot of her classmates realizes the importance of climate awareness. She has an idea to strike each Friday from school. Instagram photos and tweets spread the word and she becomes an internet celebrity. But it resulted in more than that. When rallies were organized and late-night talk show hosts discussed her and tweets flew by the hundreds of thousands, a new awareness of what’s possible regarding climate activism arose. Ordinary adults and kids started to realize they can have an effect. (O’Reilly, 2006) When climate naysayers started mean criticisms of Greta, it was as if the collective internet rose up and slapped them down and shamed them. This is an example of collective intelligence working at its best. More knowledge, more contributions, and a variety of means of social interaction all served to lift up an issue, increase the collective knowledge and the power of the group and the individual in a positive way. (O’Reilly, 2006)

The same positive process can occur at the level of a business or website. Many users contributing suggestions is actually crowdsourcing your business development. (James, 2009) Ideas can come from many angles that may have otherwise not been thought of. When users see their ideas implemented, they feel a sense of collective participation that can lead to greater brand, site, or company loyalty. (James, 2009)

The Dumbness of Crowds

I chose the idea of the dumbness of crowds because even though collective intelligence and universal contribution and interaction are great concepts, they can easily slide into the least offensive, the least interesting, the least challenging – the dumbest outcome. (Sierra, 2007) As social media use has increased to the point of Twitter being where government policy and the latest news are found, there’s been a corresponding decrease in the majority of Americans believing in the importance of intellect. Because such power has been realized through the impact of tweets, those who wield this power would prefer less scrutiny and more mob appreciation of that which is the most shocking. (Sierra, 2007)

Collective interaction on social media can result in influence and power being awarded due to nothing more than volume. Quality of content becomes irrelevant. In fact, those gaining power through social media in this way want to keep followers in the dark. Real intelligence and awareness might lead to scrutiny. Complex questioning does not lend itself to tweets or high-impact photos. The dumbness of crowds can also mean the expression of mob mentality. (Sierra, 2007) Anonymous social media is an excellent example of this. Many people have Twitter accounts that do not reveal their true identity. Groups of people can become threatening is ways they would never get away with if they had to reveal their identities. To effectively use collective intelligence and not succumb to the dumbness of crowds, an entity using social contribution and interaction would need to not confuse good ideas with popular ideas. (Sierra, 2007) Volume does not equal brilliance.

Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning

I chose the cognitive theory of multimedia learning to compare and contrast with collective intelligence and the dumbness of crowds because I feel the ideas behind this theory of learning can help many people understand a lot of what’s going on in a particular arena. This can facilitate a more informed collective intelligence or at least a more informed interactive populace (hopefully resulting in less lowest common denominator thinking).

My daughter is homeschooling through an online school that uses dynamic video instruction. When short, effective videos teach something, students stay interested longer in the topic because they do not reach working memory saturation. (Cognitive Theory, 2015) The videos are images, spoken interaction, and words. Kids have success at learning after having difficulty with traditional instruction. Now it is clear to me that this school uses cognitive theory of multimedia learning in order to teach more effectively. Multi-sensory presentation of knowledge should include the elimination of extra information, highlighting that which is important, not wasting working memory of repetition, and well-organized information with pictures and their captions in proximity. (Contreros, 2011)

Most adults were not taught this way. Possibly, underlying (false) beliefs of an inability to learn have contributed to some Americans viewing learning as elitist. They are empowered by the collective influence of social media without appreciating that more isn’t better. Still, the ability of almost everyone (considering the pervasiveness of mobile communication) to be able to connect and contribute could be used in a very positive way to increase awareness of any issue. Any kind of influencer would be wise to integrate the principles of multimedia learning into their communications.

Resources

Cognitive Theory of Multimedia - Dual Channels, February 11, 2015. https://apus.intelluslearning.com/lti/#/document/23366219/1/369e0bd0602d235c8b1f1b31ac5953b7/49720e83c0d723982aaa4c4f884d9c30/browse_published_content/15291/74539/122253/4/lesson/lesson?hideClose=false&tagId=141013&external_course_id=415740&external_course_name=WEBD220%20B001%20Fall%2019

Contreros, Jean Marie, December 11, 2011. Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, https://apus.intelluslearning.com/lti/#/document/21716113/1/c2b397987074cfdf24b5ec8f2a4a55be/24a539126d1b5ddc7b3a9b23424c66fb/browse_published_content/15291/74538/122253/3/lesson/lesson?hideClose=false&tagId=141013&external_course_id=415740&external_course_name=WEBD220%20B001%20Fall%2019

James, March 16, 2009. Harnessing Collective Intelligence – Getting Other People to Make Your Site Great. Retrieved on October 30, 2019 from http://kintek.com.au/blog/harnessing-collective-intelligence-getting-other-people-to-make-your-site-great/

O’Reilly, Tim, November 10, 2006. Harnessing Collective Intelligence, Radar. Retrieved on October 30, 2019 from http://radar.oreilly.com/2006/11/harnessing-collective-intellig.html

Sierra, Kathy, January 2, 2007. The “Dumbness of Crowds,” Passionate: Creating Passionate Users Blog. Retrieved on October 30, 2019 from https://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2007/01/the_dumbness_of.html

Review of OpenOffice as it compares to Microsoft Office

2019-10-30T17:04:00.000-07:00

In reviewing OpenOffice as it compares to Microsoft Office, the first main point I need to make is that I was confused as to what OpenOffice was! I thought it was the free, available to students Microsoft Office accessed online. I now know that OpenOffice is an entirely different software modeled on Microsoft Office. I will focus on Writer vs. Word and Presentation vs. Powerpoint, as those are the applications I am most familiar with in Microsoft Office.

In Writer, the user has all the basic functions of Word immediately available. It seemed a little bit like stepping back in time to much earlier versions of Word. All the necessary functions of the program are there, but in a less advanced presentation. The latest versions of Word include options that do not exist in Writer. There are features to share and engage through social media that I was unable to locate in Writer. There is an option to dictate under the Home toolbar. Also, a lightning bolt option offers ideas to the user such as ways to improve your writing. Also, there are emoji options not available in the proprietary version.

In Presentation, it too was like stepping back in time to an early version of Powerpoint. All the necessary functions are there to create slide presentations, but the user is lacking the more advanced options in Powerpoint. There are interesting new backgrounds, formatting, and other options currently available in Powerpoint. It too, like Word, offers sharing, social media, and emoji graphics options not available in Presentation.

Review of digiKam as it compares to iPhoto

DigiKam is an open source, free program to manage and edit photos. It has extensive options to create many effects and manipulations of photos. It has all the storage and sharing options of iPhoto. I was impressed with the many ways it could search and categorize photos: by date, by person, by place, by time, and many more. DigiKam offers many more options than iPhoto offers such as a light table for more advanced photo editing. Aperture was the more advanced MacOS photo editor, but it is no longer supported. iPhoto offers a library organized by events, photos, faces, and places only. It has basic editing and sharing across social media options. If a photographer wants to do more with their photos, digiKam offers much more than the basics of iPhoto.

Review of Firefox as it compares with Microsoft Edge

Firefox is a browser that can be used as an open source and free alternative to Microsoft Edge (the replacement for Internet Explorer). Firefox offers many ways to organize your homepage as well as new security elements. The landing page offers three new options at the top: sync, Monitor, and mobile. Signing into sync will allow you to take your settings with you on any device. A mobile site facilitates the use of the browser with your options on your mobile device. Firefox Monitor searches for data breaches. Also on the main page, Firefox offers its Top Sites that you’ve visited as well as Pocket, a curator of stories for you individually that strives to maintain user privacy and control. Popular topics are also available.

Microsoft Edge is Microsoft’s proprietary answer to the new options offered by web browsers such as Firefox. It too offers new security elements. It also seeks to curate stories for the individual user. Its main page continues with stories as far as the user keeps scrolling. When accessing tips to understand the browser’s new elements, it seeks to convey its purpose which is to “Stay Productive; Stay Organized; Stay Safe.” Each of the three categories have new elements such as form fill, decluttered printing, highlighting, saving, clipping, as well as a Hub for bookmarking and creating a reading list. It seems that Microsoft wanted to include elements from e-reader devices such as Kindle as well as safety protections emphasized by Firefox.

Microsoft Edge does offer many desirable elements to a customized browser homepage. But for what most people use their browser homepage for, customizable and safe accessing of news and other stories, Firefox provides a simple and uncluttered option that’s free.

In Summary

Open source software, often free, offers great software alternatives to proprietary software. Often the options available are more limited than the proprietary software, but sometimes there are more such as digiKam for photo editing. Microsoft Edge has come up with some very desirable elements to a customized homepage that can do much more than most. Straight-forward and customizable homepages are available through Firefox though. There may be risk in open software because of the possibility of support disappearing with funding. Open source offers a dynamic option that’s constantly improving with the crowdsourced code contributions.

Reference

Optimus Information, (2015). Open Source vs. Proprietary Software Pros and Cons. Retrieved from http://www.optimusinfo.com/downloads/white-paper/open-source-vs-proprietary-software-pros-and-cons.pdf

RSS Feed gadget issues

2019-10-20T14:44:00.003-07:00

I have to admit I had some serious issues getting the RSS Feed gadget to appear. I searched for directions and I followed them, to no avail. After several hours (!), in great frustration I finally asked for help from my husband who has programming experience. Turns out the Feedburner final two steps make sense to a coder, not me! The copying of the provided code to another gadget area was just not at all clear to me (not having done any of this before). It felt like a real accomplishment to get it done, but I felt sad I needed help. I think this is a perfect example of directions being provided by and for people already in the know. If I haven’t used Blogger before (or any other blog site), how could I have known about that gadget area even existing or where it was? Sometimes a couple more steps need to be clearly stated for those of us newbies! Living and learning...

Blog review (2) /Message

2019-10-20T11:58:00.001-07:00

Wow! I’m so glad I chose this blog to review! It’s about as different from my first blog review as possible! I chose /Message which is actually https://stoweboyd.com/. And that brings me to my first comment. If the blog is called /Message, I should type that into my search engine and it should come up. If the name of the blogger (Stowe Boyd) hadn’t been provided by my professor, I never would have found it. I had to type “/Message blog Stowe Boyd” in order to reach the desired result.

That being said, I love the modern, clean look of his blog. Favorite photos draw the visitor in. His blog is not presented in a complicated or complex way and I find that appealing. It has a lower tech feel. His archives are presented in tiles, like Instagram, and I think that’s a great idea. There’s a sense of who Stowe Boyd is...I get the feeling right away that he sees himself as an artist. It’s easy to navigate to his other blogs. I will use this blog as a great learning example.

Blog review (1) dionhinchcliffe.com

2019-10-20T05:33:00.001-07:00

I was curious about Dion Hinchcliffe’s blog https://dionhinchcliffe.com/ in particular because of his tech focus and because he is based near Alexandria, Virginia, and so am I! The first thing I noticed is how much information is presented in very small typeface. Something I want to exploit effectively in my blog (eventually) is the creative use of graphics and links to present whatever I’m presenting in an appealing and engaging way.

All writing does not have to entertain, but in this world of millions of blogs, YouTube, and Instagram, I think information (even complex, in-depth information) should be presented in a modern way. Mr. Hinchcliffe has long, complex sentences and long paragraphs. Yes, blogs are logs, but I believe the most effective ones are interactive (beyond imbedded links to other articles and links to prior posts). His blog certainly appeals to those already deep into the tech-in-business field. I plan to learn how to appeal to newbies and younger techies as well

I appreciated Mr. Hinchcliffe’s links to other interesting, related articles from within his writing. I have a thing, though, about clicking on an embedded link and it taking me to a new site. I want a new page to open up. Who says I’m done with the previous page or that I’m going to read articles only in a linear fashion? (Read this, now done, then read that.) I jump around and I don’t think I’m the only one.

Additionally, long articles scream out for an abstract. Even deep-in-it business techies can be pressed for time and could benefit from an opportunity to get the highlights.

What is an RSS Feed?

2019-10-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

How can I keep up with what’s happening online? You might search the same sites online everyday and look to social media to keep you informed of what’s new in your favorite things or subjects. An often overlooked solution is the RSS feed. (Lacoma, 2019)

It does not involve algorithms designed to feed you what a site thinks you might like. You choose exactly what updates you want. It’s stripped-down content from favorite sites you’ve chosen. RSS feeds update automatically and give you a custom delivery straight to your device.

RSS feeds are an alternative to all the noise social media sites might force on you just to get your favorites’ updated content. RSS feeds update even if you’re aren’t online, allowing you to get the latest on your schedule. (Lacoma, 2019)

RSS feeds provide 100% content control without publishers being able to sell your information. Your content comes to you via a feed reader. Any personalized homepages you might use such as My Yahoo use RSS capability. (Copyblogger)

To subscribe to a feed, look for a “chicklet” like this:

RSS feeds benefit readers who are more and more wary of giving out their email. RSS also benefits website publishers to help their readers get what they want with the least amount of discomfort or effort. (Copyblogger)

References

Lacoma, Tyler, What is an RSS feed?, https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/what-is-an-rss-feed/, August 21, 2019.

https://www.copyblogger.com/what-the-heck-is-rss/

Learning this week: Web 2.0 Blogging

2019-10-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

What’s Web 2.0?

Users create content!
It’s every kind of online sharing we do everyday.

It’s Facebook,

posting your photos to Instagram,

commenting on a YouTube video.

Web 2.0 is user-generated videos on YouTube.

It’s when you comment on a video—

and when the vlogger replies...if they reply 😉

It’s embedded videos, like this one on how to start a blog.