ljascils598f08

Online Community Gaming Fun

2008-12-13T12:38:00.000-08:00

I LOVE Battleship, and how nice of Yahoo to provide me with a battleship game that I can play online with a friend. Here is a clip of my little game!

battleship

Because the video is large and it doesn't fit to embed, I have given you a link instead to the screencast.

Screencasts Best Practices

2008-12-13T10:49:00.001-08:00

BREATHE! - try not to talk too fast
Pronounciate - make sure not to mumble words
Practice makes perfect
Run a few audio tests first
Go through a few dry-runs before you actually record

Which Console for You?

2008-12-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

A gaming system for my library/institution:

How would you research? First, depending on my goals, I would ask my user group what systems they use. I would also ask them questions about what they look for in a system. Online research is essential in the process as well.
What would your criteria be? Questions I would ask. How popular is the system? What and how many games are available? How new is the system? and again Is it appropriate for my user group?
Which do you think you would get? I would probably get a Wii as it would encourage group play or communal play which I don't feel people get enough of these days. Also it improves motor skills such as referenced in this Engadget post.

So in short, I would ask lots of user-centered questions and use the answers to in-turn make my decision regarding a gaming system for my institution.

Johnson Reading revisited

2008-12-13T10:08:00.001-08:00

"Is popular culture just a method to sophisticatedly deliver stupidity"

In short, I don't think so in the slightest. Having an education in popular culture is a form of intelligence in and of itself. Without a knowledge of pop culture you can find yourself dis-attached from modern society making it harder for you to relate people as well as to current trends and societal shifts. Also in large part knowledge of pop culture is central to some forms of humor. If its really just a method to "deliver stupidity" as Will states I will happily stay stupid.

I recently read an interesting article on Japanese society that equated popular culture with a sense of "optimism and success". SOLD OUT Toward a Knowledge Society: U.S.-Japan Perspectives. There is a reason that pop culture courses are popping up all over in anthropology departments. It's because pop culture is relevant and pop culture knowledge connects you with society. Just watch an episode of Antiques Roadshow, popular culture can also add value to things that are not in an of themselves significant, but they have become culturally significant through their role in popular culture. And, popular culture eventually leads to history, a history of people and their obsessions.

Johnson Reading

2008-12-13T09:44:00.000-08:00

Well, because he says "everything bad is good for you" rather than "everything good is bad for you". The statement means nothing to libraries and educational organizations as I assume they are some of the "good" things, not included in the statement. However, if I was to take the concept in the statement and apply it to practices in the library I would assume it would be an encouraging beacon to libraries and educational organizations to tread into new territory and to not be so leery of new technology. I actually saw an interview with this author about 2 or 3 years ago on G4 television, back when it was Tech TV or at least it was an incarnation of G4 that was more geek than cool, like it is now. He was a very interesting guy. The interview made me understand that some people are actually afraid of technology and don't always see the introduction of it in educational environments as a good thing. That kinda blew my mind, not sure why I didn't even occur to me that some people are just not keen on the use of web 2.0 and all its other incarnations. That's all it took to rally me to the cause to introduce and encourage the use and application of technology wherever I went.

It's really no surprise that, some scientific studies have shown that older adults can delay or discourage the onset Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or other neurological afflictions by just keep their minds active and alert. One of these ways is through video gaming. Other studies have shown that surgeons can keep their reflexes quick and steady by also playing video games. What Johnson tries to say in this book is "the beneficial elements of videogames and TV arise not from their subject matter, but from their format, which require that players and viewers winkle out complex storylines and puzzles, getting a "cognitive workout".

What does that mean to libraries and educational organizations? I think it means don't be so quick to judge something that on the surface seems frivolous, but instead be innovative and think of ways that you can use its allure to the masses as a means to open-up minds. How can the skills used in playing a video game be used to teach other skills and cognitive abilities? Also, I think Johnson be a champion of technology in your organization and encourage its use. Do your research and select tools that are appropriate for your goals. The application of technology can give a quick and dirty ratio of payout to reward. Instead of trying to stand in the way of technology why no try to determine how your educational institutions capitalize on this brain-reward ratio?

If I Were Steve For Just One Day....

2008-12-13T09:29:00.001-08:00

If you were alive and young in the 80s should now be humming the Thompson Twins song "If I Was King For Just One Day". But, if I was LibrarySteve for just one day. I would do away with new account setups or leave it up to the individual to decide. I strongly feel that learning about web 2.0 is closely intertwined with learning about what people actually do with the tools, and using an account that was set up 10 minutes ago has absolutely no history of use. Its important to see how people customize the tools to fit their lifestyle. How many friends do they have on Facebook? What types of Photography do they take or types of images the collect on Flickr? What types of feeds do they subscribe to? What types of links do they choose to save? All of these things are important, but without the ability to view a users involvement over time with the tools, many of the subtle ways people use them are lost.

Take for example my SL avatar. My avatar took many months to develop, I had to explore SL endlessly and do lots of research. Did you know you could have virtual pets? Probably not, but now because you see my avatar does, you can see more possibilities in the tool. It also tells you more about me, which if I was wearing stock clothing, standing on Info Island you would have really learned nothing about me. Instead, you see me standing in a Bonsai garden, drinking coffee and hanging out with my virtual poodle. Which tells you a lot more about me as an individual. Thats what I feel web 2.0 is really about, leaning about people as individuals and how that impacts the whole community. Web 2.0 allows you to look into once closed off areas of peoples lives, and gives you a view into their personal and professional lives. It brings people together based on commonalities and shared interests. This is something that is the essence of what Web 2.0 is about and you just can't get that from an account that has only been setup for a week. That's my two cents. Now, I can go back to being myself, which unfortunately means I have a final project to produce! Can I go back to being LibrarySteve again? PLEASE.

The Second Life of Nora Dowding - The Return

2008-12-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

I've always thought Second Life was a bit weird, but I've also always been fascinated by its real world applications. For example, I once attended a Librarians talk in SL with a member of the Faculty of a previous job (it's also always interesting to see what people choose as their SL avatars), it was both fun an interesting. However, I've also always found SL to be a bit boring. Not really anyone to talk to and if there is it's people you probably aren't sure whether you should be talking to them or not. Interestingly enough was some of my first experiences in SL (about 2 years ago) I found that large numbers of the people I met where actually Librarians! They had librarian parties, librarian meetups, and research talks. I haven't been back in a really long time, so long my "Home" destination no longer existed and I took me a bit to figure out how to maneuver again. SL was a lot more crowded than I remember the last time and I could actually hear people talking, as of my last visit to SL the only way to talk was via the text field.

So on my return to SL, I found my cool clothes were still there, including my Doctor Who t-shirt, plaid pants and Converse sneakers. Also to my happy surprise I still had my virtual Poodle. Here is a snapshot of me, a cup of coffee and my poodle in the Bonsai gardens in Koleamoku (one of the locations I had saved that still existed). Now, I'm off to see if the Charles Dickens town still exists.

MySpace Friend Categories

2008-11-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick video on how-to set up categories for your friends on MySpace

MySpace-Categories

Ning

2008-11-23T14:49:00.000-08:00

what advantages/limitations do you see with using a Ning?
how could you use a Ning in a work environment?

Advantages:

Groups can be made private or public depending on your needs
easily contact all members of the group, by sending one email
keep track of individual members
Forums for your group
event management

Disadvantages:

address to groups are hard to remember
site is not top on my list of frequently visited
yet another social website to remember to visit
design is not quite as clean as I would prefer
not a lot of customization options

What makes services like MySpace or Facebook "sticky"?

2008-11-23T14:41:00.000-08:00

What makes services like MySpace or Facebook "sticky"?
people spend a lot of time on these sites...why?

MySpace and Facebook (and even blogs can sometimes be considered part of this) are almost like the NEW homepage that we saw in the mid-90s. They are a persons digital, public face. People spends endless hours tweaking, adding content, adjusting etc. because this is what image they project to others. They want to look their digital best. I once was weary of a new employee because they showed no signs of a "digital-footprint" as I liked to call it. I was wary because having no "digital-footprint" is almost akin to not having a real-life footprint in this digital day and age. They were applying for a job in the IT department and this lack of virtual face, told me a lot about the potential employee. Mainly that they were not up on current technologies. I later proved to be correct in my assessment, but this just goes to say that having a "digital-footprint" or some kind of digital face is very important for both your personal and professional life. People spend lots of time on their Facebook, MySpace and Linked in profiles as it is like a "calling-card" its a way to enter into networks and be part of a community.

My Screencast: The 50 States

2008-11-16T20:34:00.001-08:00

Ok, you might get this, you might not, either way enjoy.

The 50 States

My Educational Video: Insane Disco - The Walking Step

2008-11-16T19:12:00.000-08:00

This short video shows you how to do the "Walking Step".

My Entertainment Video: Scream

2008-11-16T19:11:00.001-08:00

A quick entertainment video featuring my favorite action figures....Enjoy...

Click To Play

YouTube SCILS Attack

2008-11-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, I've decided that we are all pretty funny and a rather odd bunch! It was interesting to see that so many people chose never to show themselves in the videos and most where shot from a close angle. I really enjoyed the instructional soccer video as soccer is my primary religion and laughed out loud at the cardigan video. Also why oh why did someone do coffee? You stole the show. With both soccer and coffee off the topic list, what on earth can I do for my topic?

Here are some links to my top favorites:

Librarians must have Cardigans

French Press Coffee

Soccer Video - Cruyff turn

Edu vs Ent

2008-11-16T10:38:00.000-08:00

Educational Videos vs. Entertainment Videos.

As I wasn't really sure either we're in competition with one another, I will try to address this battle of the contents. Educational videos and entertainment videos, I feel, both are made for different audiences at different stages of their lives. Educational video are needed at a very specific time (when one is looking to learn something on a specific topic) and entertainment videos also have their time and place (when one is trying to avoid doing their SCILS homework). I tend to think of it in terms of television. I spend about half my time watching both educational channels such as the History or Discovery Channel and another good chunk of my time watching tribble like Bravo and E!. I even spend a larger portion of my time watching the soccer channel, but we will not discuss that. I think its very possible the entertainment is how most people spend their time on something like YouTube - however, I then think of my boyfriend who is constantly watching How-to videos for software, music and design and it cancels that out. I genuinely think its a tie, fair and square between the two types of content videos and I think both are in their own class.

What do we all have in common:

2008-11-16T10:10:00.000-08:00

Flickr Group: scils598f08

Commonalities:

We all love taking pictures of our families, pets (dogs & cat's - anyone have any exotics?), our homes and where we do our schoolwork, the great outdoors and travel along with the very random harmonica and JD degree and the super random War of the Worlds Plaque. It seems like a good portion of us really love music and love science-fiction or at least literature that borders on the unique. We also enjoy hot beverages (tea and coffee) and alcoholic beverages.

Differences:

Are kinda hard to pin down. We do seem to be either Mac or PC users, with one (including myself two) dual platform user(s). We also seem to be in different stages of our lives, some in their 2nd career while others are just starting out. Some of seem to be right, smack in the happy middle. I think overall we have more in common with one another than differences. Which is interesting all in itself.

Flickr Group: scils598f08-edexperience

We all really should have a discussion with someone regarding our obsession with vending machines. I think that really says something about our student diets. Also we are in a love hate relationship with all our library school texts - we love to photograph them, yet really are at odds with the fact that we own so many. We all seem to own the librarian action figure and really love our computers and the schools computers. We are clock watchers and poor eaters. Reads like a profile of a very nervous, tech obsessed, hungry person.

Podcasts vs. Text Based Blogging

2008-11-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

What are the benefits/detractions of podcasts vs. text-based blogging?

podcasts - have a much higher learning curve
blogging - you can just type and go
podcasts - require specalized equiptment and software as well as hosting services
blogging - you just need a computer and an blog application account or ISP
podcasts - more portable, can listen to on the go
blogging - users must either print out or save in a text file to read on the go
blogging - has a much wider audience
podcasts - have a more specialized audience
blogging - edits are easy and do not require much more than the delete button or the backspace
podcasts - to edit you need specalized equiptment

Overall, I think each medium has both pros and cons - blogging for its speed and podcasts for thier portability. Each also has a very specific type of audience. For the more casual user blogging is a very easy way to get thier message read, while podcasting is a more complicated way of getting thier message heard. For the end user the medium varies in how it can be obtatined and options for reading.

Excerpt from Terry Pratchett's Going Postal

2008-11-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

I decided that why come up with my own story when I could read someone elses that was far more interesting! I decided upon reading an excerpt from Terry Pratchett's book "Going Postal" from the chapter entitled "Angel". It picks up with a man contemplating the fact that he is to be hung in the morning and starts as he is trying to make his escape:

You can use the direct link here or use the player below:

http://www.switchpod.com/users/ljascils598f08/pratchettangel.mp3

It's just easier when you get right to the point....

2008-10-28T19:01:00.000-07:00

see more pwn and owned pictures

How do Libraries/Librarians fill roles as New Producers, new Markets and New Tasetmakers?

2008-10-26T14:57:00.001-07:00

"The Power of the PC means that the ranks of "producers" - individuals who can now do what just a few years ago only professionals could do - have swelled thousandfold."

Librarians/Libraries as "New Producers":

Libraries are often times community technology centers, helping others learn new technologies that enable them to be the "new producers". Libraries by educating patrons on how to use desktop publishing, video editing and audio editing tools are enabling the public to become thier own "creators". In another aspect libraries and librarians provide the tools for "amateurs" to educate themselves on any number of topics and disciplines. Thus "creating" amateur experts. Such as the case with Albert Jones and Robert McNaught, I'm sure they both did some amount of astronomical research at the Library and I'm almost doubly sure that a librarian helped them.

Librarians/Libraries as "New Markets" and "New Tastemakers":

On a side note, for my entire undergraduate studies, I only purchased previous additions. Already smart to the "only have to change 9 things to justify a new edition" rule. I never had any problems and was always able to figure out what page my teachers were on. I also swear by bookmooch and half.com for all my book purchasing. Yes, I still purchase books from Amazon and B&N, but thats only after I have been unable to find something comperable elsewhere. Libraries create new markets by offering books to patrons that they might not have purchased before in genres mabye they have been unwilling to pay-to-try in the past. If that experimental reader becomes a fan, they have just become particpants in a new market of genre types or "tastes".

Librarians also through readers advisory can connect people with new authors they might not have tried before, again creating a new market and changing thier patrons "taste" in subjects. Libraries can also offer thier patrons choices of formats. For example NYPL offers e-books for download, thus opening themselves up to a wider set of content for thier patrons. On another level, more and more libraries are following the Amazon model and allowing patrons to post likes and dislikes, thus influencing any number of new readers. An much like the "LAUNCHcast" example, some libraries are even farming data from thier users and recommending titles.

Libraries still have a ways to go, but if they start following more examples such as the ones mentioned in the chapters they will always provide useful services to thier patrons.

Google Analytics.....

2008-10-26T14:50:00.001-07:00

I could look at Google Analytics forever, I enjoy reading all the different bits of data on everything about my site. Here are some of the more interesting bits:

General:

79 Visits
143 Page Views

Browsers:

Firefox 52%
IE 39%
Chrome 3.85%
Safari 3.85%

OS:

Win 82%
Mac 16%
Linux 1.28%

Connection Speeds:

Cable 38%
T1 23%
DSL 19%
Dialup 1.28% -ok, whoever in this class is still using dialup fess up! :)

There is so much more interesting stuff, such as network locations (what ISPs people are using), countries (I've used this more with my personal site) and languages (I use this one lots with my soccer site). Overall, fun stuff and I can't wait to check in on it again.

countdown....

2008-10-26T14:19:00.001-07:00

countdown
Originally uploaded by ljascils598f08

This is the the official countdown....I can't wait till its over. It's been 15 years of non-stop school, part-time, full-time and next-to-no time. Three degrees later and I can't wait till December. I will soon add an MLIS to my AA (multimedia programming and design) and my BA (museum studies) degrees and it couldn't happen soon enough.

I chose to attend Rutgers, even though I live in Brooklyn. It was cheaper than Pratt (which I can't really stand anyway) and closer than Queens College (by train NJ is closer than some parts of Queens!). Going from city universities (everything is vertical) to a NJ College town (frat houses and all) was an experience to remember. The commute has been super time consuming and draining. The courses, somewhat rewarding, it's been about half-and-half. However, where they have really shined is the instructors (not always the content-sadly enough). Ok, so I'm not the biggest fan of the current crop of LIS educational offerings. Out of all my courses my favorites have been Records Management with Steve Dalina (super relevant course, everyone should take it) and Interface Design with Jacek Gwizdka. Overall, I am happy to have met such a great crop of MLIS'ers, they are really the stars of the program.

So, yes, I have been counting the days till its all over and I can reclaim my life, spend time with my family and read whatever I want. I will also enjoy having more time to focus on my career and spend more time on my professional development. It hasn't been the easiest, but it hasn't been the hardest either (classical studies and attempting to read Greek was harder!).

my-rega

2008-10-26T14:18:00.001-07:00

my-rega
Originally uploaded by ljascils598f08

One of my favorite pics from the flickr project.

Brown & Druguid Ch5 & Ch8

2008-10-18T18:14:00.001-07:00

...thoughts on the conclusions in Brown & Druguid. Every time I pickup this book, I really want to put it back down again. The tone is always so negative, almost agressive, and I don't really care that Publishers Weekly thinks it's and "intellectual gem". However, when I dig into the chapter I tend to change my opinions. It's like they always seem to be having a rough start of it, but usually successful in making me think in the end.

Ch5 - I get the battle between HR & IT. In libraries it's always been IT against another department or the library as a whole. Possibly cause half the time no-one knows what they are doing (B&D aren't the only ones that can get negative) and the other half thinks they know better, when everyone really knows nothing. I've never been one for epistemological debates, cause everything is all really lots of jargon and buzz words these days. However, their description of knowledge -vs- information is sufficient for the discussion and the personalization of knowledge is a given. Its no surprise that ELP failed at its attempts to harness the essence of what made Grimes so good. This happens all the time, again I'm going to reference advertising. Advertising companies buy each other up all the time only to find that what made that firm so special is out of reach. Same thing with Design agencies, its the culture of the people that make the place and make the work either substandard or great. Buy the agency, mix it in with another agency you change the dynamic, therefore changing the human factor that made it so great to begin with. So B&D really win me over in this section. The other way they really win me over (when they are not being so negative) is with their insights through their examples. They really stick with me and I've even used a few of them later in conversation with colleagues. In the "practical value of phone cords" - you really see evidence of the change of patterns in telecommunications and how customer service centers are run. You always seem to have to start at square 1 every time you get on a tech-support call, it doesn't seem to be a "learning" process anymore.

Ch8 - Reading through this section makes me take a sigh of relief that, I'm almost outta here. Education seems to be getting messier and messier and I'm hoping to get as far away from the fallout as possible. In "solutions" again B&D go a bit negative, but they win me back with "resistance" - the idea that I could get a "turfgrass management certificate" woo hoo! In misrepresentation, I thought back to when I was looking to fill some part-time archivists slot at my old institution. I would immediately disregard certain applicants based on their education. It's horrible, I know, but every staffer that I ever had from that particular institution turned out to be a dud and I didn't want to get burned again. That particular institution had "lost my trust" when it came to finding and hiring qualified archivists. "A Distant Prospect" is incredibly relevant to the means of distribution of our Social-Software course. I often times work late at night and only on the weekends, my course "documents" are available 24/7, thus adding to my learning experience. However, I prefer the "old-system", but who has the time these days? Further on in the section when B&D state that "with a powerful website and some packaged content they can do away with everything but the students". More and more it seems as though students are just being "churned" out, to fill some unknown quota, without regard to the experience of learning itself. B&D are right when they say "catalyst for further conversation" as yet another reading of theirs causes me to think, rather than just shallowly read.

RSS and Information Overload

2008-10-18T18:13:00.003-07:00

RSS and Information Overload --- A means to an end, whew!

Honestly, without RSS I think I would be suffering from information overload. RSS readers allow me to get everything I need, from all the sites I normally read, in one centralized location. I could never keep track of all those as bookmarks and would never have the time to visit each site individually. I subscribe to over 140 different feeds, and RSS allows me to read all those feeds in one go. Although I do see another classmates point about narrowing my field of information vision to only what I want to read, and not experiencing other topics. That's what my undergrad was for, having to read lots of stuff, I really wasn't that interested in. So, I figure now I am on an information vacation. Getting to read what I want as soon enough someone will force me to read stuff I don't want to anyway. At least here I have a choice. The overload aspect can happen when you RSS something that is an aggregator such as Digg, which in my case ends up being duplicates of all the other Tech blogs I follow. So it's knowing what to RSS and what not to. You have to really implement good judgement. I try to only subscribe to feeds that relate somehow to my professional development and expose me to topics that I otherwise would not have the time to pursue. The ability to use RSS readers in order to organize your information intake is invaluable, thus taking away from information overload. You can read what you want, and however much of it you want. RSS by iself is only one half of the whole, it has to be combined with a reader to have its value truly seen.