In our household, guests are always welcome. Almost always.
It would seem that he is going the distance - and of course, going for speed.
Ah, winter in New York. Enjoy.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Marcie's Adventures in Social Networking...
Someone recently told me to consider new technology as a series of shallow relationships - play around with it, see what it can do for you, but all the while keep your eye out for the next, best thing - making sure you are able and ready to test out new possibilities and then latch onto improvements when they come along, only when you are really settled in and comfortable should you make a commitment, etc. This analogy can pertain to any new technology, but it is also how I have felt about MySpace, Friendster, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. I wondered which would have staying power, which was a temporary trend, and which would do more than simply reconnect me to friends and acquaintances - I mean we already have email after all, right?
I've found that FaceBook is pretty ingenious for passive marketing and promotions. Friends can passively peruse one another's activities from the comfort of their own page. My best friend can see that I am attending a movie tonight, because I've posted it - my brother can see what I've done last weekend via posted images, etc.
Facebook has a more user-friendly interface and applications that LinkedIn and MySpace. It may be because I have ventured further and further into the realm of Facebook, but I find it much more dynamic and versatile - I can use it as a social or professional resource, or for social updates, entertainment. It has changed a means of communication and information. It shifts our ability to participate and key into one another's lives, according to school groups, professional groups, neighborhoods, shared interests, etc. However, I believe the more one uses this resource, the more careful one must be in what they decide to reveal/share about themselves, although they have 150 "friends" what may be "fun" and appropriate for one, may be completely offensive and embarrassing to another.
Along those lines, I'm glad I did not use Facebook when I was in middle school, as I am certain I'd be mortified with the inane nonsense that I felt mattered most at that time. I wonder how Facebook will impact today's younger users, and how can be altered to reflect the maturation of users (i.e. if a photo album feels inappropriate and immature and you wish to remove it, how easy/challenging is that to do?).
I know how careful I try to be with what is posted about, by, with, to, for me - a decade ago, I probably would have been much less careful. I wonder how young folks can filter their own content to make sure they want it out there in the world.
Just some thoughts...
I've found that FaceBook is pretty ingenious for passive marketing and promotions. Friends can passively peruse one another's activities from the comfort of their own page. My best friend can see that I am attending a movie tonight, because I've posted it - my brother can see what I've done last weekend via posted images, etc.
Facebook has a more user-friendly interface and applications that LinkedIn and MySpace. It may be because I have ventured further and further into the realm of Facebook, but I find it much more dynamic and versatile - I can use it as a social or professional resource, or for social updates, entertainment. It has changed a means of communication and information. It shifts our ability to participate and key into one another's lives, according to school groups, professional groups, neighborhoods, shared interests, etc. However, I believe the more one uses this resource, the more careful one must be in what they decide to reveal/share about themselves, although they have 150 "friends" what may be "fun" and appropriate for one, may be completely offensive and embarrassing to another.
Along those lines, I'm glad I did not use Facebook when I was in middle school, as I am certain I'd be mortified with the inane nonsense that I felt mattered most at that time. I wonder how Facebook will impact today's younger users, and how can be altered to reflect the maturation of users (i.e. if a photo album feels inappropriate and immature and you wish to remove it, how easy/challenging is that to do?).
I know how careful I try to be with what is posted about, by, with, to, for me - a decade ago, I probably would have been much less careful. I wonder how young folks can filter their own content to make sure they want it out there in the world.
Just some thoughts...
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking is totally new to me! I bookmark sites often, but only on my own computer, not through a browser. I usually only bookmark sites that I visit repeatedly - nothing interesting, mostly bill-related like AT&T and Citibank! So I did a bit of research first to see what this could be used for...
According to About.com:
"Even if you don't bookmark a lot of websites, you can still benefit from a social bookmarking website. The most valuable piece of information we have on any product -- be it a book, a movie, a computer, a car, or something else entirely -- is what other people have to say about it."
This is interesting, but it makes me think about the other question posted in our syllabus - "can we add to the message without increasing the noise?" I looked around delicious but really didn't even know where to start looking for a site that I would find useful and/or relevant. But I do find it interesting and I can see where this would be particularly useful with a specific project/job in mind. Many of the articles I read referenced social bookmarking's usefulness to teachers - sharing sites that can provide good lesson plans, etc. I can see how it could be useful as a student in working on group projects - to be able to share sites with research information.
Anyway, I've added my delicious site as an RSS feed on my blog. I tried to look for others in the class to share my bookmarks with but it's impossible without knowing user names.. So come find me, user name = shann7998, I've only bookmarked the articles I mentioned above regarding social bookmarking!
According to About.com:
"Even if you don't bookmark a lot of websites, you can still benefit from a social bookmarking website. The most valuable piece of information we have on any product -- be it a book, a movie, a computer, a car, or something else entirely -- is what other people have to say about it."
This is interesting, but it makes me think about the other question posted in our syllabus - "can we add to the message without increasing the noise?" I looked around delicious but really didn't even know where to start looking for a site that I would find useful and/or relevant. But I do find it interesting and I can see where this would be particularly useful with a specific project/job in mind. Many of the articles I read referenced social bookmarking's usefulness to teachers - sharing sites that can provide good lesson plans, etc. I can see how it could be useful as a student in working on group projects - to be able to share sites with research information.
Anyway, I've added my delicious site as an RSS feed on my blog. I tried to look for others in the class to share my bookmarks with but it's impossible without knowing user names.. So come find me, user name = shann7998, I've only bookmarked the articles I mentioned above regarding social bookmarking!
Shannon's Experience with Social Networking..
My Social Networking Experience...
Ok, my experience with social networking recently has been more work than social. I think (according to Wikipedia) that MySpace began around the summer of 2003, following Friendster and copying its more popular features. I never joined Friendster, and I think that I joined MySpace around the winter of 2005?..
It was addicting at first, especially for me because I've lived/worked around the world. So many of my friends I keep in touch with via email/phone because we don't live anywhere near each other. I would mean to only check MySpace, and then spend hours catching up with people, seeing what they were up to now, looking at photos, etc.. As a performer, my friends and I tend towards the nomadic.. It is hard to keep up with a group of friends that have new jobs in different continents every few months or so!! So MySpace was addicting because it wasn't stagnant like email, but I could look through their sites - at pictures, blogs, etc. (this was a little before video posts were common, I think) - and 'feel' like I was catching up with them.
But now, I have a hard time keeping up with everything! I use social networking (mostly Facebook) for marketing purposes in the various internships I've had and for communication on behalf of the TC student organization I'm president of. I'm interested in arts marketing, and my internships have primarily been involved with online media. So when all of this becomes work instead of 'catching up with friends', it makes it a little less fun..
That said, I do still think social networking sites are great marketing tools, and much more fun to build a 3D mailing list than just send postcards from a list of database-generated addresses. But I do participate in it less as myself, just for fun..
That could have something to do with being a graduate student, as well :)
http://www.myspace.com/shannonmariehouston
http://www.facebook.com/people/Shannon_Houston/1039613434
Ok, my experience with social networking recently has been more work than social. I think (according to Wikipedia) that MySpace began around the summer of 2003, following Friendster and copying its more popular features. I never joined Friendster, and I think that I joined MySpace around the winter of 2005?..
It was addicting at first, especially for me because I've lived/worked around the world. So many of my friends I keep in touch with via email/phone because we don't live anywhere near each other. I would mean to only check MySpace, and then spend hours catching up with people, seeing what they were up to now, looking at photos, etc.. As a performer, my friends and I tend towards the nomadic.. It is hard to keep up with a group of friends that have new jobs in different continents every few months or so!! So MySpace was addicting because it wasn't stagnant like email, but I could look through their sites - at pictures, blogs, etc. (this was a little before video posts were common, I think) - and 'feel' like I was catching up with them.
But now, I have a hard time keeping up with everything! I use social networking (mostly Facebook) for marketing purposes in the various internships I've had and for communication on behalf of the TC student organization I'm president of. I'm interested in arts marketing, and my internships have primarily been involved with online media. So when all of this becomes work instead of 'catching up with friends', it makes it a little less fun..
That said, I do still think social networking sites are great marketing tools, and much more fun to build a 3D mailing list than just send postcards from a list of database-generated addresses. But I do participate in it less as myself, just for fun..
That could have something to do with being a graduate student, as well :)
http://www.myspace.com/shannonmariehouston
http://www.facebook.com/people/Shannon_Houston/1039613434
Shannon's Third Video
This is a Maynard (my mom's side) family Christmas tradition - the annual trip to La Salette, a park dedicated to a Christmas light display! The video is of my cousin's baby Anya, and her first trip joining this time-honored tradition.. This is my third video, and I think I've come close to mastering iMovie!! ;)
Friday, November 28, 2008
Tricia's Experience With Social Networking Sites
I have had limited experience with social networking sites outside of what we recently have done in class with one major exception: facebook. One of my younger classmates in the TC summer Intensive session this past July repeatedly encouraged me to join facebook, and early in August, as I sat in my 11th floor room at the New Residence seeking a diversion from writing final papers, I took the plunge. From the moment I hit the water, I got sucked into feverishly hunting for friends, joining social groups, championing causes (save the rain forest by having a "green space"), playing games (Parking Wars, anyone?), racing and feeding Fluff animals (that was done in a weak moment), expressing my baseball devotion to the NY Mets, flaunting my "flair", commenting on friends' walls, e-mailing anyone and everyone, sharing photos, chatting late at night with friends from around the world, linking to articles and videos of interest, and posting, POSTING, POSTING! It has been a great way to build relationships with some of my younger colleagues at my new job (they are my most frequent late-night chatting buddies), and get involved again with lives of friends I had lost touch with over the years. I have traditionally been a regular letter writer, so see this as a modern extension of that interest.
Additionally, I recently decided to join Twitter. I am still not very hooked on it, as I have only found one other of my friends who makes use of it, but plan to give it more time.
Additionally, I recently decided to join Twitter. I am still not very hooked on it, as I have only found one other of my friends who makes use of it, but plan to give it more time.
Social Bookmarking: How I Organize My Bookmarks
Social bookmarking is brand new for me. I only learned of del.ici.ous (I guess now just "delicious") when it came up in class several weeks ago. I signed up, out of scholastic obligation initially (after all, I do want to do well in the course!) but have found myself getting excited about it. I did watch the commoncraft video on it, and that helped make it more indispensible. Just the thought that I can have access to "my favorites" from any computer, and access my friends' favorite links as well is so incredibly useful. I love having the delicious bar at the top of my screen under the browser on my laptop, as easy access to those links.
Organizing links? That is something I am still figuring out. I use tags like "educational resources", "handbells" (I direct a handbell choir), "elementary" (resources for elementary teaching), "technology" (videos and sites containing/about tech applications), "games" (educational game sites for students), "grants" (links to grant sites I have looked into or applications I have submitted), "tutorials" (tutorials I have found helpful or want to review), "nyc" (links to things in and around the city that I have interest in), and "library" (sites specifically related to my work using and managing a library) as well as a few other things.
Organizing links? That is something I am still figuring out. I use tags like "educational resources", "handbells" (I direct a handbell choir), "elementary" (resources for elementary teaching), "technology" (videos and sites containing/about tech applications), "games" (educational game sites for students), "grants" (links to grant sites I have looked into or applications I have submitted), "tutorials" (tutorials I have found helpful or want to review), "nyc" (links to things in and around the city that I have interest in), and "library" (sites specifically related to my work using and managing a library) as well as a few other things.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Experiences with Social Networking
The social networking sites I have had the best experiences with to date are:
YouTube
hulu
blip.tv
blogging on Blogger and Word Press
Classmates
Google Notebook
Google Alerts
and to some degree Facebook
I like Google Notebook, but often forget about it since I normally just use my computer's bookmarking tool. I like that Google Notebook allows me to gather web sites and connect to them from anywhere. I need to use it more.
Facebook -- it is okay for me, a place to keep in touch with friends no matter where they move to, whether they keep or change their e-mail addresses, to get information on events from them, but for the most part, I don't think I even know the extent to which facebook can be used until I have explored it more. My age group does not tend to communicate that way and without a group of people to connect with through facebook, it can be an exercise in futility to have a facebook account.
YouTube is great. I love that it captures events, television shows, film clips, music, news -- all kinds of audio/visual files that inform. When trying to find links for my blog to song clips to illustrate what I was talking about, I was amazed at how many options there were to link to that would let people know what song I was referring to, what scene in a movie, what types of sites I am looking at, who people were that I was referring to. The creator of YouTube is a genius.
Blip.tv was a great resource to find out about in this class. I have many videos that I have created and want to share with other people. Particularly the video of my grandmother's life story in its entirety. I have been contacted by cousins from around the country who are interested in my wine business--particularly because it bears the name of our mutual ancestors. They have heard about the video that I made about the family history through my grandmother's life story, and they want to have a copy of the video to see for themselves and to share with their families. All i have to do is send them a link to my blip.tv videos and they can watch it. It is so simple and so convenient.
Blogging is the same thing -- I have had blogs on cooking, dating, traveling, becoming a wine importer, and now -- my experiences with social networking and my interest in the afterlife and how it is presented on television. It makes me feel as if I am being published. I always wrote in diaries, from the time I was 10 through my adulthood. And blogging allows me to keep writing diary type entries, but that can possibly be read by others. When I traveled to Hungary for the first time and stayed for 6 weeks, I blogged daily and wrote my thoughts and impressions and uploaded photos to share with my friends and family back home so that I wouldn't have to write to them individually and so that I wouldn't bore them with vacation stories and photos for hours when I got home. They could read about my adventures and see where I went by just logging into my blog. My parents are coming for two weeks this Christmas to stay with me in Manhattan. Their friends are excited to hear all about the experiences and activities-- and I told my mother we can set up a blog for her to write and upload photos to, so she can tell her friends to log on and read all about it. (This is a woman who doesn't understand what copying and pasting refers to in a Word document, so it will be an adventure just teaching her about social networking technology).
The last social networking site that has been useful to me has been Classmates (and another site similar to that -- the name of which eludes me right now). I graduated high school in 1975 and my friends are scattered around the country, and the world. Classmates and this other site have allowed me to connect with teachers, with old friends that i have not seen in 30-35 years, to help those friends make connections with people I keep in touch with myself, and to actually get together face-to-face with someone I had been close to in high school, but lost touch with for decades. Another aspect of these sites -- particularly the other one that is not classmates -- is that our school has its own page and there are different sections that illustrate things like the history of the town we grew up in, photos that illustrate locations that have changed or been demolished, photos of how the town looks now. It features information on reunions being planned and a way to reach out to people who are not easily reachable through friends who may be checking the site. It even has a page that features memorials to classmates (by graduation year) who have died--with a place for people to post memories related to that person, or for family members to tell about that person's life up until he or she died. It's sad, but even before the Internet, I remember my mother checking the obituaries to see if her friends were in there. This site at least offers a forum for remembering and for having some sort of connection and closure with others who shared those memories and friendships.
Diane
YouTube
hulu
blip.tv
blogging on Blogger and Word Press
Classmates
Google Notebook
Google Alerts
and to some degree Facebook
I like Google Notebook, but often forget about it since I normally just use my computer's bookmarking tool. I like that Google Notebook allows me to gather web sites and connect to them from anywhere. I need to use it more.
Facebook -- it is okay for me, a place to keep in touch with friends no matter where they move to, whether they keep or change their e-mail addresses, to get information on events from them, but for the most part, I don't think I even know the extent to which facebook can be used until I have explored it more. My age group does not tend to communicate that way and without a group of people to connect with through facebook, it can be an exercise in futility to have a facebook account.
YouTube is great. I love that it captures events, television shows, film clips, music, news -- all kinds of audio/visual files that inform. When trying to find links for my blog to song clips to illustrate what I was talking about, I was amazed at how many options there were to link to that would let people know what song I was referring to, what scene in a movie, what types of sites I am looking at, who people were that I was referring to. The creator of YouTube is a genius.
Blip.tv was a great resource to find out about in this class. I have many videos that I have created and want to share with other people. Particularly the video of my grandmother's life story in its entirety. I have been contacted by cousins from around the country who are interested in my wine business--particularly because it bears the name of our mutual ancestors. They have heard about the video that I made about the family history through my grandmother's life story, and they want to have a copy of the video to see for themselves and to share with their families. All i have to do is send them a link to my blip.tv videos and they can watch it. It is so simple and so convenient.
Blogging is the same thing -- I have had blogs on cooking, dating, traveling, becoming a wine importer, and now -- my experiences with social networking and my interest in the afterlife and how it is presented on television. It makes me feel as if I am being published. I always wrote in diaries, from the time I was 10 through my adulthood. And blogging allows me to keep writing diary type entries, but that can possibly be read by others. When I traveled to Hungary for the first time and stayed for 6 weeks, I blogged daily and wrote my thoughts and impressions and uploaded photos to share with my friends and family back home so that I wouldn't have to write to them individually and so that I wouldn't bore them with vacation stories and photos for hours when I got home. They could read about my adventures and see where I went by just logging into my blog. My parents are coming for two weeks this Christmas to stay with me in Manhattan. Their friends are excited to hear all about the experiences and activities-- and I told my mother we can set up a blog for her to write and upload photos to, so she can tell her friends to log on and read all about it. (This is a woman who doesn't understand what copying and pasting refers to in a Word document, so it will be an adventure just teaching her about social networking technology).
The last social networking site that has been useful to me has been Classmates (and another site similar to that -- the name of which eludes me right now). I graduated high school in 1975 and my friends are scattered around the country, and the world. Classmates and this other site have allowed me to connect with teachers, with old friends that i have not seen in 30-35 years, to help those friends make connections with people I keep in touch with myself, and to actually get together face-to-face with someone I had been close to in high school, but lost touch with for decades. Another aspect of these sites -- particularly the other one that is not classmates -- is that our school has its own page and there are different sections that illustrate things like the history of the town we grew up in, photos that illustrate locations that have changed or been demolished, photos of how the town looks now. It features information on reunions being planned and a way to reach out to people who are not easily reachable through friends who may be checking the site. It even has a page that features memorials to classmates (by graduation year) who have died--with a place for people to post memories related to that person, or for family members to tell about that person's life up until he or she died. It's sad, but even before the Internet, I remember my mother checking the obituaries to see if her friends were in there. This site at least offers a forum for remembering and for having some sort of connection and closure with others who shared those memories and friendships.
Diane
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Educational Video - a Whole New World
This is my educational video piece, and the aim is to educate people to help each other, and make the world better. Thanks for my friends' wonderful acting!
Youth and Technology
This is my narration video. I made this video because I wanted teenagers to explore their identities, their technology usage and their life style by themselves. The two girls in the video are my friends from a high school in New York City, and they are playing the narrator's roles in this video. They prepared the interview questions by themselves, and they interviewed their schoolmates about the usage of technology. The audiences will follow the two girls (narrators)' steps to listen to the teenagers' stories, and the teenagers also had a chance to look at themselves.
My New Classroom Blog!
In addition to being a grad student here, I'm also an adjunct dance professor at Pace University. And I was trying to think of an idea for 'extra credit' over the weekend when I decided to create a class blog!! I'm very excited about it (maybe more excited than my students, as only one of them has contributed so far)! I think it's such a great opportunity for dance, because of the ability to post and share video. They have two assignments - to write about why they enrolled for a dance course, and to post a video of a dance piece they find interesting (with the reasons for why they chose that particular piece). I'm really excited, because it gives me some insight to them and it gives them a chance to engage with dance on a different level, outside of the studio. Yey! I'll keep you updated... ;)
http://dancingatmypace.blogspot.com/
http://dancingatmypace.blogspot.com/
Monday, November 17, 2008
Take a Poll on Life After Death
Oh, I've been meaning to ask the class to go to my blog and take the poll on what you believe about life after death. Four people have taken it so far, and there are six days left to respond. I'd really appreciate more input. Thanks.
Diane
Diane
True thinker
I was just reading the New Yorker and found an ad for True Thinker. I tried to subscribe for 7 days, which I did, but screwed up exporting my bookmarks to it. Apparently you can find web sites and bookmark them on your own computer browser and also to True Thinker, so that you can find your bookmarks on whichever computer you are working on just by going to the web. But it seems to have a fee attached to it. It is called a knowledge network. I wonder if it is similar to TC's Pocket Knowledge in which you can store things and share with the world or friends or keep private.
Please forgive me if this is a site you all discussed. I tried reading through the notes from the last class, but I am having trouble signing on to the Adobe Connect session on Wednesdays. So I am trying to keep up with everything. I think I have, except for the Flickr photos. I'm trying to think of what photos to put up. I don't have a camera or even a camera phone. So I will have to look through old digital photos.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this site, in case it interested anyone.
Diane
Please forgive me if this is a site you all discussed. I tried reading through the notes from the last class, but I am having trouble signing on to the Adobe Connect session on Wednesdays. So I am trying to keep up with everything. I think I have, except for the Flickr photos. I'm trying to think of what photos to put up. I don't have a camera or even a camera phone. So I will have to look through old digital photos.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this site, in case it interested anyone.
Diane
Audience - Passive or Participatory?
From Rebecca Blood, author/creator of Rebecca's Pocket Blog
http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html
**I've also posted this on my blog
In Douglas Rushkoff's Media Virus, Greg Ruggiero of the Immediast Underground is quoted as saying, "Media is a corporate possession...You cannot participate in the media. Bringing that into the foreground is the first step. The second step is to define the difference between public and audience. An audience is passive; a public is participatory. We need a definition of media that is public in its orientation."
This quote from Greg Ruggiero is very interesting to me, and speaks to one of my earlier posts. Although as a performer (former dancer), I would disagree with the thought that an audience is passive. I think an audience can be passive, if the speaker believes it to be true. But for me, as a dancer, the best performances were the ones in which the audience was actively engaged. Instead of feeling the imaginary 'fourth wall' separating the audience from the stage, that is stripped away and the audience is pulled in to the action. So Web 2.0 has allowed for the media 'fourth wall' to be stripped away. The audience is only passive if the subject chooses. Prior to Web 2.0, the subject (media) didn't have a choice, only those sophisticated in HTML could participate. But now everyone can, and so the question is how media can take advantage of the opportunity to pull the audience in.
http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html
**I've also posted this on my blog
In Douglas Rushkoff's Media Virus, Greg Ruggiero of the Immediast Underground is quoted as saying, "Media is a corporate possession...You cannot participate in the media. Bringing that into the foreground is the first step. The second step is to define the difference between public and audience. An audience is passive; a public is participatory. We need a definition of media that is public in its orientation."
This quote from Greg Ruggiero is very interesting to me, and speaks to one of my earlier posts. Although as a performer (former dancer), I would disagree with the thought that an audience is passive. I think an audience can be passive, if the speaker believes it to be true. But for me, as a dancer, the best performances were the ones in which the audience was actively engaged. Instead of feeling the imaginary 'fourth wall' separating the audience from the stage, that is stripped away and the audience is pulled in to the action. So Web 2.0 has allowed for the media 'fourth wall' to be stripped away. The audience is only passive if the subject chooses. Prior to Web 2.0, the subject (media) didn't have a choice, only those sophisticated in HTML could participate. But now everyone can, and so the question is how media can take advantage of the opportunity to pull the audience in.
RSS Feeds
I've subscribed through Feedburner, and now have the 'subscribe to my feed' icon on my blog. I've also added five RSS feeds from other sites onto my blog. My question is whether I should post my RSS feed on the class blog, and if so, how do I do that? I don't seem to have the same editing capability in the class blog as I do in my own, and I'm not sure if I can add my feed or if the administrator of the class blog needs to subscribe to it.
I'm catching up on the last class! :)
I'm catching up on the last class! :)
Friday, November 7, 2008
Shannon's Instructional Video
Sorry for my trouble with getting this posted correctly! I've solved the problem-for some reason my uploads to YouTube were automatically checked 'private', so they couldn't be viewed from a posting (only through an invite with YouTube). Hopefully, both videos should work now!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
ghost stories 1
My grandmother telling about one experience in which she experienced a ghost on Brindley Street in Ithaca, NY
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