Webinar on blog techniques

Here is a great video about blogging techniques (mainly geared for business, but applicable to anyone)

A few tips I picked up:

• Blogs take time! You have to commit! (I knew this, but it's a good reminder)
• When people comment, address their comment by using their first name. That turns it into a personal conversation.
• For content, blog about what your audience is interested in, not about your company.

Enjoy the video. It's free!

How to Blog Effectively for Business (GF101)

Great overview of how to search in Google

Google says this PDF poster is designed for kids, but I think it's a great overview of some of Google's search capability. Did you know you can use Google to find definitions and to do math problems?

Check out the poster.

Other cool Google posters are at:
http://www.google.com/educators/posters.html

Lost your phone?

Wow, this is a cool site -- so interesting I had to share it.

If you ever lose your phone and want to find it by listening for its ring, you can go to www.phonemyphone.com, enter your phone number, and very shortly, your phone will get a call! There is no charge.

You can even use this service to set yourself a wake up call and, as the site says, get yourself out of boring meetings. Try it out!

Spokeo and privacy

From Suzi:My co-worker sent this message to all of us at work. The synopsis below is hers; I haven't really had time to check this site out, but it appears to be worth investigating. I did try searching for myself on the site, but I think my "two names" (Suzi and Suzanne) confused it. Post a comment if you try this out yourself!

"This website culls the information about individuals from public records, social networking sites and so on. You can remove your listing if you wish. Mine (before I requested it be removed) was somewhat accurate – this publicly accessible listing had my address and a picture of a neighbors’ house (I said it was somewhat accurate), my age, gender, race, indication of how many people in the household (including children,) and listing of interests (for free) as well as access to pictures (for a fee).

The website is www.spokeo.com. The link to remove your information is: http://www.spokeo.com/privacy The site was very slow at responding. (There seem to be a slew of emails going around about this site, so maybe they are being inundated?)

A good write-up in plain language explaining the system it uses, the “whack-a-mole” method of trying to block all these aggregators, and the possible lack of success at requesting removal (though it worked for me) can be found at:
http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/spokeo.asp (look under the “Origins” section of the page)

Class handouts are now posted

If you missed a day of class or can't find one of the hand-outs, they are all posted here

http://bit.ly/WLNewTech

Each hand-out is downloadable as a PDF file. Enjoy!

Ham radio growing in the age of Twitter

This NPR story discusses ham radio and how it is still a popular form of communication, even in the Internet age with many other tools available.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125586086

[The image above is courtesy of Fox Photos/Getty Images]

Hand-outs will be posted online

Hi, Everyone. I also greatly enjoyed this experience and will be happy to correspond with anyone via email. I spoke with our Extended University Webmaster yesterday, and we have a place we can post all the hand-outs from the course on the Wonderlust Web site.

I'll post that link by the end of the week. Thanks again for a great experience.

Suzi

Wonderlust handouts

Thanks again for your participation - I certainly enjoyed meeting all of you and your active participation in the class!

Send me an email (rwolff@montana.edu) and I will send you a complete set of the class hand outs.


Richard

Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing gets companies cheap help online from USA Today.

April 15: the poetics of texting at Bozeman Public Library

I don't know anything about this, but it sure sounds interesting!

Robert Bennett, assistant professor of English at Montana State University, and visiting English professor Ben Leubner, will explore the links between American poetry and new information technologies at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 15, at the Bozeman Public Library's Community Meeting Room.

"The Poetics of Texting and Twittering" will be preceded by a reception, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Link to MSU press release

Last class will be at the American Computer Museum

Our final session of "New Technology: What's the Big Deal" will be held at the American Computer Museum, 2023 Stadium Drive. This is just west of 11th st. and south of Kagy.

Here is a link to their web site and directions

http://www.compustory.com/

Want to Fix Your Own Computer

Here is a web site for a company that sells parts and tools, and provides step-by-step instructions for repairing Macs. Similar companies provide support for other brands.

http://www.ifixit.com/

Good luck!

Montana Broadband Speed Test

The Montana Dept. of Commerce is doing a survey of internet speed the residents are experiencing. You can participate by taking the speed test!

http://mtspeedtest.org/

Link to FCC broadband Plan

Here is the web link to the FCC plan

http://www.broadband.gov/plan/

THE FCC National Broadband Plan

The FCC has released its plan for increasing broadband speeds and accessibility. You can also check your own connection speed from this site.

Reducing the anxiety of paying online

Here is a good article from the NY Times on how to minimize your risks when buying on line.
Richard


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/technology/personaltech/18basics.html?pagewanted=1&8cir&emc=cirb1

Cool things to do with an iPhone

Thanks, Dan, for finding this cool video of something else you can do with an iPhone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzQLRPwZjIo&feature=player_embedded

Dan, let us know when you have recorded your own video like this :-)

Anatomy of an Internet Rumor: John Roberts Retiring

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/03/the_backstory_of_the_john_roberts_retirement_rumor.php

The false announcement of John Roberts' retirement was a powerful example of how technology can spread rumors very quickly.

It has been reported that a Georgetown University law professor "released" the rumor in a law class, asking his students not to tell anyone about the private information. Instead of keeping this news to themselves, students immediately shared the information (even before class was out!), and the rumor spread widely.

Within about 30 minutes, the professor retracted the rumor, saying he was only experimenting to see how word travels.

Google's Translate Service

To translate a phrase, or an entire document from one language to another, try Google's Translate Service:

http://translate.google.com/#en|el|

Location-based services - ads that follow you!

New cellphones have GPS capability that lets the network know where you are. This information can be used to send you location-based targets advertising. Read more;
http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15612291&subjectID=894408&fsrc=nwl

Searching based on images

Google has introduced a new application, that uses images taken by cell phone to search the web! No need to type in search terms.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/business/20ping.html?emc=eta1

Why: how search engines make suggestions

This article discusses the methods that search engines use to anticipate what you are looking for and make suggestions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/opinion/22viegas.ready.html?emc=eta1

The Best Tech Ideas for 2009 - technology Oscars

The Thursday edition of the New York Times has interesting articles on new technology and reviews of providing useful assessments. This link gives the best choice for 2009 (The technology Oscars!)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/technology/personaltech/31pogue.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Free sources of audio books and e-books

A non-comprehensive list...

National Academies Press. Articles produced by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council, all operating under a charter granted by the Congress of the United States. While at first glance, this appears to be an online bookstore, many of the publications are available as free PDF downloads and/or audio files.

LibriVox Audio books, read by volunteers. Quality may vary, of course, but it is quite a comprehensive selection.

Gutenberg project View 30,000 free online books. It is not too hard to find a particular author or category, but it is a little tricky once you get to the download option, as there are several options, including "HTML," which downloads the book in a format that looks like a Web page, or "Plain Text," which downloads the book in what looks like a plain typewritten site. There are also several options once you choose HTML or Plain Text, including "main site," "mirror site" and "P2." It is easiest to just click "main site."

Radio Lovers Old time radio shows for listening online or download. Some particular episodes are a little hard to find, but a pretty comprehensive list of titles. You should be able to listen online without downloading any special software or registering for an account.

Radio drama revivalsModern dramatizations of old radio programs. You can listen online without downloading special software.

Bozeman Public Library / Montana Library2Go If you have a Bozeman (or other Montana city) library card, you can access free audio books that can play on your computer or on an iPod or other portable mp3 device. You must first download a utility to your computer called "Overdrive." There are some nice tutorials that explain how the process work. The selection is quite limited for Mac users.

Go to the Bozeman Public Library Web site, and in the upper lefthand corner is a pull-down menu with the header "I want to...." Chose "download audio books" and you will go to the MontanaLibrary2Go site. Or, choose this link to go there directly. Click the "New to digital media" link in the green bar on the left to access the tutorials and directions or the graphic with download digital media Guided Tour.

Tips for using Google Maps

In case you can't tell, both Richard and I are fascinated with Google Maps and think it's a very worthwhile tool to learn. Here are just a couple of ways you can use Google Maps.

Get directions from one location to another

Choose an alternate route, if desired

View a standard map, terrain map, or satellite map

Find out what's near to a location, such as pizza places, parks or grocery stores

Read reviews posted by other Web users of nearby restaurants, etc.

Create a Google account and save a custom map, with pinpoints to mark locations

Draw a line on the map to show (and share) directions with another person

Use "Street View" to see a location just as if you were standing there on the street

This is a good overview video (You can watch it on YouTube without creating a YouTube account)

Google offers some nice tutorials here:Tips on using Google Maps. You can choose whether you are a beginner or expert, world traveler or business owner. (You can also watch these tutorials without registering for anything)

The State of the News Media 2009

Fantastic reports on traditional and new/emerging media by the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism

http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2009/index.htm

Six emerging trends:

How to finance the news industry? Micro-payments and non-profit funding probably are not viable solutions. People are overlooking some viable alternatives.

Power is shifting from journalistic institutions to individual journalists

News organizations are focusing on multiple forms of distribution, including citizens contribution content

More partnerships among news organizations

"Cable chatter"--cable news giving rise to minute-by-minute judgment in political journalism

In campaign coverage, the press has become more reactive and passive, and less of an enterprising investigator of candidates

A caution on social networks

Judy noticed this news item - we will be discussing privacy next week and go further into some of the cautions that we should be aware of.

From CBS News- "Please Rob Me" http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/25/tech/main6241430.shtml

What is the shape of the Internet?

An interesting story in the March 2 New York Times on how the internet is being shaped by its users.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/science/02topo.html?pagewanted=1&emc=eta1

Redrawing the Route to Online Privacy

An interesting New York Times article on privacy and the internet. We will be talking about these issues later in the course.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/technology/internet/28unbox.html?scp=2&sq=privacy&st=Search

Richard

Why does a Google search show "cached?"

A question from a student in class:
In Google, I searched for something I had never searched for before, and when the search results come up, each listing shows the word "cached." How could this be when I have never visited this Web site before, so clearly no information from it is cached on my computer?

See graphic (I added the circles)



Answer from Richard:
Here is a link that explains google's caching. Looks like they cache everything and then give you the option of viewing the cached page or the current page.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/features_list.html#cached

This means that google has huge storage system!

From Suzi:
In the graphic above, I searched for "Norwegian curling team," something I've never searched on before. When I click "cached" it shows an earlier version of the Web page (and not that old; it was a version from earlier in the day). So by "cached," it means cached by Google, not by me or on my computer.

Now you can comment on this blog!

Sorry, class -- I had one last privacy setting locked down that required people to have a Google account before posting a comment. That barrier is now removed, and anyone can post a comment, either anonymously, with your name, or with a Google profile.

Links, hits and clicks, oh my!

Some definitions and clarifications from Richard...

link: "Link" and "hyperlink" actually both refer to the same thing.

A link is a reference on a web page that references some other place on the same page or somewhere else on the Internet. If text is "clickable" that means it is a hyperlink.

You can identify a hyperlink in a number of ways but the easiest way is to move your mouse pointer over the top of a picture or word and if your mouse cursor change to look like a small hand then the item you are looking at, is a link and you can click it.

click: n the World Wide Web advertising industry, selection of a banner ad by a user. The effectiveness of Web advertisements are measured by their click-through rate - how often people who see the ad click on it.

hit: Any time a piece of data matches criteria you set. For example, each of the matches from a Yahoo or any other search enginesearch is called a hit.

Class schedule

This six-week course will roughly follow this schedule:

Week 1, Feb. 18: Social networking - Facebook, YouTube, Blogs, etc.

Week 2, Feb. 25: Search - The many functions of Google!

Week 3, March 4: New media (e-readers like Kindle), ipod Touch, online newspapers, etc.

Week 4, March 11: Privacy and security, including identity theft. Legal and ethical issues, such as copyright.
No class March 18 (Spring Break)

Week 5, March 25: What's inside the box? How does all this stuff work?

Week 6, April 1: Meet at computer museum. Technology's past, present and future. Plus, some crazy, fun technologies and other topics the class wants to discuss.

Privacy in Facebook

Question re: privacy in Facebook (Why is Lemongrass Thai public? Would MY profile be public?)

Anyone who creates a user account in Facebook has control over the privacy settings, ranging from anyone (even those who are not in Facebook) can see any part of your profile (including birthday, interests, photos, etc.), to only those who are part of your network (your "friends"). Even then, you can block access to certain parts of your profile to specific people. You can also choose "friends of friends" as an option for privacy. The image below shows the privacy settings, found under "Account," which is in the upper right-hand corner of your Facebook profile page.



Click on the SEARCH icon to choose whether or not to allow the public to view your Facebook profile through a standard Web search, such as in Google. This is a good idea to check if you are a business, such as Lemongrass Thai. However, it is not such a good idea if you are just a regular person. Anybody -- even those who are not members of Facebook -- can view your profile, your friends, your photos and your posts.

Terms used when discussing SEARCH

Server farm: a large collection of computers, such as those used by Google to store information. No single computer could store all the data needed by Google, so it uses many, many computers in numerous locations.

cache: [from wikipedia.org] In computer science, a cache is a component that improves performance by transparently storing data such that future requests for that data can be served faster.

cookie: a small piece of text (programming code)stored on a user's computer by a web browser. The cookie contains information about your visit to and activity on a Web site, such as shopping history or preferences on Amazon, or entering your name or address into an online form. You can use the tools setting in your Web browser (the software used to view Web sites) to purge the cookies from your computer, if you like.

Source code - the underlying programming language that makes a Web site look and function as it does. No need to ever view this code unless you're a programmer.

Trojan Horse - a piece of software or code that appears harmless but is actually harmful to your computer.

A Web search works in three steps:

crawler: Searches the Web for new Web sites

Index: database of web sites (web pages)

Query processor: uses your query to find relevant pages in the index

Concepts from Class #2

I.P. Address = Internet Protocol

"Blog" is short for Web log--a type of Web site that can be maintained like an online diary. Bloggers write about everything from travel to business to technology to the mundane details of daily life. Many blogs are just personal ramblings; others--such as travel blogs--can provide good personal (non-commercial) information about locales.

If you want to create your own blog.
Travelpod.com
Blogspot.com

Credibility is an issue! Consider the source of the content.

Good sites for checking facts:
Snopes.com
UrbanMyths.com

URL - Stands for Uniform Resource Locator. A URL is what you would commonly call a Web address, such as www.montana.edu

Browser: A browser is the software used for viewing Web sites. Most computers come with a browser already installed, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox (Mozilla), Safari (for Mac) or Google Chrome.

Links from class #1, Feb. 18, 2010

"Did You Know 3.0"
Created by Karl Fisch, and modified by Scott McLeod
http://www.youtube.com/v/jpEnFwiqdx8

or 4.0: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

"What is a Social Network" video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc

Facebook.com A social networking site designed primarily for personal connections. Users must create an account.


LinkedIn.com A social networking site designed mainly for professional / business connections. Users must create an account.

Extra links and definitions from class, Feb. 18, 2010

Wordle.net. Turn any document into a beautiful "cloud" or words. Free online software, no need to register (no password necessary).


RickRolling: A silly but harmless Internet prank, whereby someone sends an email link that appears to go to another site, but instead goes to the music video of "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley (1987), considered by many to be the worst song ever written.

YouTube.com A video sharing site. View millions of videos for free and without registering--everything from travel documentaries to golf swing tips to silly homemade videos. You can also share your own videos if you sign up for a user account. Example of Suzi's "Bobcat Hot Chocolate Taste Test" video.

Why Facebook instead of email?

In class, someone asked, "Why use Facebook instead of just emailing someone?"

Honestly, for just sending a single message to a single person, there's no reason to use Facebook. Facebook is a social networking tool, used for connecting with a multitude of people. Here are some ways that Facebook is better than email:

share photos and videos

search for old friends, classmates, etc.

invite people to an event or meeting

play games online -- with a friend, a stranger, or a whole group of people

get reminders of your friends' birthdays

create a small group (sub-set) of your network of people, such as a club or class

ask your entire network for advice or suggestions, such as a recipe, book or travel destination

all your contacts' email addresses are catalogued in Facebook; no need to keep an address book on your computer

access friends' emails and information, from any computer, even when you travel

This article tells of five charitable campaigns that were successful using social media tools.

What do you do in Facebook?

What is Tivo?

Tivo is the brand name for a type of digital video recorder.

From wikipedia.org: A digital video recorder (DVR)...is a device that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB keydrive, sd memory card or other memory medium within a device.

A DVR is similar to a VCR in that it can record television programs to be viewed later. However, because the recordings are digital, no tapes are necessary. Programs that have been recorded are much easier to find and to navigate within (rewind, fast forward). Additionally, DVR users can search online guides to find upcoming shows and set the DVR to record those shows--one time, every week, or every time they are aired on any channel, even in re-runs.