Thing 16

Sniff... Such mixed emotions. I am glad to be done, I really feel like I accomplished something, but in the same moment I am sad to be leaving this forum. This has been fun and I learned a lot of great information, and when the world is ready for web 3.0, I will be too.

But on to Thing 16, Geotagging. What a fun way to organize photos. You can see my map here. It will link you to all the photos. I only wish that I could type in a location's name (such as British Museum, London, England) and it would give me the location. So far, you need to know the street address.

I included at least one photo from all the places I have been in the last year. I think this is a great way to organize photos. Just yesterday I was lamenting how little I travel, but then when I look at this map I don't feel so bad. I've been a few places and I can't wait to add more. This would be an excellent tool if I spent more time uploading and organizing. But wouldn't everything - I still don't have wedding photos ordered and its been three years.

Again, I have to say thanks 16things, for all the wisdom and humor you have bestowed upon me.

Thing 15

Amazingly, I already download and frequently listen to many podcasts. I'm always searching for good ones on world history (thanks for the link to Dan Carlin, 16things) because I find it a great way to learn about something new on my bus ride to campus. I tend to like anything in the 20 minute range, just perfect for the ride.

I have included one of my favorite recent podcasts, from Krista Tippet's Speaking of Faith. She speaks with spiritual leaders, researchers and experts across all religions to gain insight into current happenings. The one I'm linking is called TV and Parables of our Times. Not only are the topics thought provoking, but Tippet's soothing voice can have you sleeping like a baby in a matter of minutes. I don't recommend her on the bus, but its better than a warm glass of milk before bed. I know I'm making it sound boring, but really the subject isn't, its just the melodic voice.

As far as searching for podcasts, I've always used iTunes. Its relatively easy to search and everything is updated and synched every time I visit the program.

Thing 14

Note: Wow, these things really fly by on a muggy Sunday afternoon in the only room with a/c

As an instructor, I often want to do research and write scholarly papers (I know, I actually want to do this), but because I don't have someone breathing down my neck with a due date and critiques, I find it difficult to get started and stay motivated. I think that the assignment calculator will be very helpful, as it breaks the process into digestible chunks, all with due dates. All I have to do is select a final date, and obviously, stick to the program.

The Teacher's Guides were great, excellent reminders of how to dig in and dig deeper. I especially appreciated the sheets about online research. I have always avoided online sources, as they were never accepted when I was writing on a regular basis, I have little/no idea how to do an affective scholarly search. Look out google, here I com.

thing 13

I chose igoogle as my start page, mainly because everything else I do is google based. They are the new microsoft, I swear. I enjoy some of the gadgets, a have a serious time-killer game, quote of the day and a moon phase tracker. All necessary items, I'd say. I will not be setting it as my homepage though, as searching through google seems slower when I'm logged in. Could it be that they are tracking my every move? Or am I just paranoid?

I checked out all of the calendar pages, as I a very planner-centric. It took me years to find the proper format (Moleskine, weekly notebook, vertical orientation with notes page, 5 x 7, red *see above*- I'm on my third year of them now, before that it was a Franklin 3 ring binder type, but that got too heavy) but I still check new ones out the entire month of December. And sometimes in August, there might be an awesome back to school find.

I thought Scrybe looked great, I liked the zoom in on day feature, but is still by invitation only. Backpack seems like a great tool, as well. The ultimate on-line to do list.

After all that searching, I think I'll stick to my moleskine. I experimented with a PalmPilot years ago, and I just never got into the tech thing. For me, its as much writing it down as it is having the list for reference. Often, if I write something down, I don't need the list later - which will disappear if I am typing the list.

I also looked at Zoho projects and will suggest to the interior design faculty that we check it out as a tool for accreditation. I can see how this would work very well for a group project.

Thing 12

Del.icio.us is a very helpful internet tool. There are many good sites out there, too many to keep organized with bookmarks, and this site seems to do it well. It will be especially helpful when doing research, not only to save the sites I'm interested in, but to also look at sites that have been tagged by others.

The only thing I find frustrating is that you have to be a very capable searcher (and tagger, as well) or things become too generic. Try looking at sites tagged design....

...there are thousands. You can narrow your search by looking for two tags at once, but who's to say others are using the same definitions for tags that you are? I suppose thats why I'm more of an orderly marching band kinda girl than the gutterpunk type.

I think del.icio.us would be a great way to share info with students, as you can search sites by user and tags. I often see a site that I think would be helpful or interesting for a class to see, but I am not sure how to share it, besides give them the url on a handout. And handouts aren't very web 2.0. I have also started following a lot of sites my students have suggested, any this would be a great way for us all to share. Unfortunately, with the whole social thing, I'd want to block anyone's tags that weren't design related. I still believe in a thing called "too much information."

Thing 11

I uploaded a presentation for my Problems in Residential Design class to see how slideshare worked. It can be found at this LINK if anyone is interested. Of course, I design slide shows to give visual reference to my lectures, so I don't know how "readable" or "interesting" it is without the notes. (If it was ever interesting in the first place).

Again, slideshare is a handy place for storage of slide presentations, similar to what we've learned earlier, but I wouldn't find a slide show on this site to share with students. I did look at the winners of last year's slide show competition and did see some new ways to think about the design of a slide presentation, which were much better than the colorful backgrounds and dynamic slide transitions offered by PowerPoint. I'll be honest, I never considered creating a slide presentation as a design problem before, and because of this exercise, my later slide shows will be much better (I hope).

Again, my recommendation would be to view slideshare to improve your own presentations, but I didn't feel compelled to add all (or many) of my presentations to the system. I can't imagine spending a lot of time looking at this stuff, but that may be because I missed the day in kindergarden when they discussed sharing.

THING 10

This was fun. I saw the sneaker app and was immediately transported back to junior high school when I used to write on my shoes. Now I can express my deepest thoughts without defiling my loafers. It even looks like my handwriting!

Since I was on the trip down

memory lane, I decided to make a personalized license plate from my home state. Of course, they do

n't have the awesome gold and green plates that my For

d Escort sported back in the day, but I guess the classic R, W, & B will do.

I'm afraid I could goof around on this site all day (these are from Image Chef) if I could think of enough clever things to say. I also checked out Toondoo. I had a great idea for a cartoon, actually something that happened on our last canoe trip, but I don't have the hours it takes to create characters, backgrounds, etc. I will have to keep this site in mind the next time I need to make a gift for someone.

I can only think of fun ways to use these apps, I'm not sure how I would use them in interior design. I do think photo sharing online is a great thing. I understand copyright issues, I'm a huge advocate of intellectual property law, but when you post something publicly you are inviting others to use it. Hopefully, if they use your work, its for educational purposes or the greater good and if they want it hanging on their walls they support the arts community enough to purchase a print from the artist.

Thing 8

I find wiki's a bit problematic. This may stem from the fact that I am one of the last of the dinosaurs and leary of all this web stuff or the fact that I am a control freak. I don't like the idea of a free platform where anyone can change information; it is un-vetted. (And we all know what a problem not enough vetting can bring). I like to know I can trust my sources.

Thats why I think the ban on Wikipedia is appropriate. While most of the information checks out, the layers of "proof" that an author needs do not exist. That doesn't mean I don't think wikis have their place. I think the how-to wikis are great. Some are very helpful, while others are downright hilarious. It would be an interesting way to share recipes, as each individual eventually tweaks the contents, especially if the edit history can be viewed. Imagine The Art of French Cooking as a wiki!

Thing 9

Here is the photo I liked from Flickr.  I started by searching places I had been, and noticed that all the pictures that I felt  captured my feelings about place were copyrighted and not available to post (legally) with a URL.  That was disappointing.  I understand artistic property, but if you are going to share something via an online share service, you should make it available to use.  

This image is of the atrium in my favorite department store, Liberty of London.  This photo was taken by an artist known as planetjanet111.  Its been around since the mid 1800s and has been responsible for popularizing the Art Deco and Arts and Crafts movement.  I could live in that store.  

I think Flickr could be great for putting together slide presentations, especially for architecture history, although the search is really broad.  I attempted to find good images of a few of my other favorite places in London and they didn't pop up.  I also feel weird about using photos if I am unsure if the artist is willing to share them.  I almost wish they could tag the photos with free for use.

Right now, I do not use a photo sharing device as my husband is the household photographer (in a major way.)  I do know he has used flickr when he was taking photos professionally to share his portfolio.  

If I was to share photos on Flickr, especially those that had no identifiable people in them, I would make them free to share.  We can learn so much from seeing how others view the world.

Thing 7

I really like the possibilities with GoogleDocs.  I chose this document editor because I've got google accounts already set up and I have used google docs before.  Its so easy to use, if you can navigate through Microsoft Office - you can do google docs.

I look forward to using this system as I collaborate on papers and projects with other.  Its so much easier than keeping track of multiple SaveAs's.  

While I'm on this SaveAs/multiple documents juggling act, is there a way to work on a document, image, whatever and when saving it, it would save to all the places you have it?  I get sick of constantly passing things from my desktop to my jumpdrive and worrying that I just erased the most current version of the file.

Dropbox is a nice tool.  A while ago my husband set up a server that we can access from anywhere.  Its really nice when I forget my jump drive, but it can be complicated to get on.   I suppose I could use that to solve my SaveAs dilemma...

Thing 6

This type of application just seems like a mash up of an RSS and social networking. I think it would be interesting to follow the Diggs or Reddits of someone whose opinion I trusted, but leaving it up to the masses still forces me to sift through a bunch of stuff I'm not interested in (like Jon and Kate's marital status or the latest tween star to fall from grace.) There is a place in the world for editors and critics and I like it that way.

That being said, I think this would be an opportunity for someone to become a web-acclaimed critic. If you were following news and information with a mass appeal and could prove some credibility, you could gain a lot of readers and your opinion would start to matter at a broader scale. Who knows, maybe MSNBC or VH1 would pick you up to comment on the best/worst week ever.

One would have to be very selective to establish that credibility. No 3 am drunken comments about Japan's energy policy, but a few well researched, well cited articles (with links) could go a long way.

Thing 5

So, if facebook is sharing way too much information, micro-blogging is out of control. I don't even care to have that many brief updates on what is going on in my own life, I can't imaging wanting to follow someone else. I can see how it works for some, my husband "twitters" for the restaurant when new beers go on cask and we get some business from it, but for me its just too much to keep up with. But I did give it a try.

I chose plurk, I found the timeline visually appealing and a better method to organize information. I actually wouldn't mind a calendar application that looks like that (maybe they have one, I'll have to go back and check.) I also think "plurk" is a lot more fun to say than "twitter".

It would be interesting to use plurk as a way for students and teachers to have a recorded conversation about something. I'm thinking about how hard it is to arrange a field trip for students, to all gather around the same piece of artwork and have a discussion about it. It would be an interesting discussion thread to have students view the work independently, microblog about it and then comment on the discussion - all in recorded real time.

As for the other things I have learned, I have to say I love my RSS. I have already begun following more sites and emailing interesting links to friends, students, etc.

Thing 4

I'm having a really tough time with this one. Not because the technology is difficult to use, but because I am having anxiety about signing up with facebook. I have resisted this long, why start now?

My resistance comes from liking my anonymity. I grew up in a small town where everyone knew your business before you even were aware of it. Town gossip - the precursor to twitter. But there are so many people that I don't keep in touch with on a regular basis that I would like to keep tabs on....

Maybe my real fear is that I will be that lame facebooker. The one like your mom: no profile picture, no album, never updates her status. Its just another thing I have to maintain.

I am a member of Linkedin, mainly because former students requested my endorsement and recommendation. I can't say that I enjoy keeping up with it. I am just a lousy networker and the relative ease of networking should be appealing to someone with no skills (like myself) but I just find it stressful.

I can see the advantages of facebook - finding old friends and classmates (a great professional network) and sharing vacation photos freely. For now, I think I'm going to put Thing 4 on hold and return to it when I'm ready to sign my privacy away - if I'm ever ready for that.

Thing 3

This thing really doesn't apply to faculty, as we cannot access the eportal. I also a very familiar with OLS and the features of the AIMresources page (like room reservations and tech requests.) I have always had good experiences with these features - everything from reserving a better classroom for final presentations to having a paper towel dispenser mounted in a classroom so cleanup in art classes was easier.

Because I feel like I'm getting a free pass on this Thing, I am planning to set up one of my classes on eCompanion for next quarter. I'll keep you posted as to how that goes.

Thing 2

I just set up google reader as my RSS. I have a feeling I will need 12 steps to get over this 2nd of 16 things. Having all my favorite sites funneled into one readable location is pretty amazing. Now I just have to keep myself from subscribing to too many things.

I am so excited to use this feature for research for projects at school and information to share with students. It seems that I always found something interesting when I visited these sites in the past, now they can funnel inspiration straight to me.

I used the search tool to find my favorite sites. Because of the time it (used to) take to track sites, I didn't have many regulars, so it was quick and easy to find what I am interested in. I am excited to add new sites as a stumble upon them in this quest to complete 16 things. My recommendation = Treehugger.com - great sustainable information and a lot of it is design related.

Well, I'm off to a good start with 1 of 16. It was much easier than I thought it would be. Besides, its always fun to use software to create "yourself." I am looking forward to learning all of these new tricks on the computer and finally joining the 21st century.