late additions- 5b.

The deadline may already have passed for assessment, but Im still going to go back and add the bits I havent done yet.

Here is 5b. - add a link from a photo sharing site.

I couldnt decide on which photo to pick, so I decided to just show the results page!

Flicka loves Bonsai (click here)

Finally......

Well folks, despite not having totally completed everything in time for the blog submission deadline (even with an extension) I finally feel a lot more confident using more interesting stuff on the net. I was previously only using it for FB, writing reports & sending emails - a couple of times over the years Ive outsourced to friends to do a web page for my classical quartet SareZian. Its always ended in the dust either because of the web company, or we couldnt have the page the way we wanted. Now, Im really looking forward to being able to have more direct creative control over what we present digitally for our business. These skills are really important for musicians to market themselves and we just arent taught them & if youre not a geek, well then youre kind of screwed. I just didnt know where to get them and I dont like mucking around with things that 'sort of' work or are 'sort of' along the right track.

This course has been ideal for me with the things its taught me and although Ive just not had enough time to absorb it properly within the time frame required, so far its had just the kind of ingredients that have

kept me interested. Ive had to find out a few things in my contact classes at uni - and its the little things that having someone show you that can make all the difference. (Thanks Vonny!) A friend showed me how to add gadgets (or that I was having trouble finding them and it should be on my page but wasnt for some reason) and how to highlight text before hyperlinking it - took all of 20 seconds, but it was a catalyst that has made all the difference to this blog, and was just what I needed to know, but couldnt quite find that info whilst going through the weekly tutorials. We all need a bit of human contact time occasionally and someone else to see what youre actually doing on the screen, not just the end result. She also showed me that on Twitter her contact tute class had added a hashtag #ISYS1166 so they could all Tweet with each other - but I only found that out last week and now its all over, so Ive kind of missed the boat, but can just use their previous tweets to catch up on things.

The main problems Ive encountered have been getting technology to work properly, (eg. online lectures), and TIME, most of all. I was working full time, doing the course full time and it took the first 4 or 5 weeks to sort my schedule out, deal with life (rellies visiting, etc) and get going solidly. What would have helped me in the first instance is a phone call confirming that I was actually doing the course online, as just learning how to navigate around the course website, find my course materials and make sure that I had found everything I had to do was daunting enough, and that alone took loads of time for me in the first few weeks, without even doing any subject work. Ive been about 2 weeks behind the eight ball right from the start and had the circumstances been different, I think I could say that Id have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. :)

Being on a Mac without Microsoft Office has also presented problems with the tutorial exercises and I just cant get them done past a certain point, or at all. For the sake of getting on with the re

st of the course, Im at a point where Im just choosing to say 'bugger it' and go on with something else. We really need the tutorials to be Mac friendly too, as there are so many of us using them.

Ive enjoyed the social interaction with my group members & reading their blogs - which have provided helpful examples for me, and their support has been a big help and given much relief to know that theyre in the same boat. Id love to take more time to finish off this blog. Ive enjoyed all the web activities presented and need to take more time to continue with them so I can use them properly as theres so much for me to benefit from professionally and personally. Theres also soooo many to chose from, which is why I need soooo much more time.

Woo-hoo!!!

Google Maps

I hope this works - I couldnt find some of the places I wanted to mark & I didnt trust my geography! I tried a couple of times to do this, as I found that the markers didnt show up once I embedded the map. I wanted it to just show the island of Bali, but its gone out to show Indonesia - if you keep clicking on the + sign the trip & markings will soon show up. If I had more time I could embed photos & videos in the map, but to begin with Ive got nothing on Flickr or YouTube, so Id need a couple more days just for this project.

MASH-UPS: I dont get them yet. Ive looked at Yahoo Pipes (and dont know where to start), read the articles, and guess that if Id have time to put a video or pics into this map, then Id have a mash-up? Im sure I can do it, theres just not been the time for me to fully understand this idea. I just need more time.

View Bali holiday - motorbike trip. in a larger map

Some groovy music & scenery

This is one of my favourite clips of music and visual - grim though the colour scheme is - its from the end credits of Lemony Snickets Series of Unfortunate Events. I think its utterly beautiful.

Sheherazade

Its a bit unusual to see a bunny roll over - it means they really trust you. This is one of my pet buns having himself a time on the couch. :)

Ubud, Bali 2010

I wanted to add these pics as a slide show - but theyre on my computer. After a lot of mucking around I still couldnt find the right way of doing it. I dont yet have any pics on Flickr, which would solve the problem - easy peasy. It may not be done yet, but I have no fear! :)

Random Joys of Social Bookmarking

What is DELICIOUS?

I chose Delicious because this seemed like a good starting point for me - I loved the tutorial clip on it and what it proclaimed to do: clean up all my website bookmarks and make them accessible from the internet, not just my own computer. I added it to my toolbar and imported my existing bookmarks, which are not organised. Starting up on Delicious was easy - it was almost done automatically as I have a google email account, and off I went! Thank you Lee LeFever! I made the mistake of using the automatically assigned popular tags instead of creating my own, so now I have a second set of bookmarks that need cleaning up. Joy.

I havent managed to make my bookmarks social yet as I dont know people on Delicious per se, - have to find some. This could be great for people in music ensembles & instrumentalists - my fellow flute colleagues could share a collection of the worlds websites on flute and our artists. I do think that professionally this is a really useful way of sharing information for me. All the user needs is the URL, and a compatible web browser - it doesnt support AOL or Internet Explorer, but offers downloadable connections to help. I havent used EndNote yet unfortunately, so the only bibliographic item I can compare it with is iTunes - (you may laugh, but its a really important tool for me as it has my entire music library on it). Visually I still prefer my Mac's bookmarking interface as it can display the pages in a gallery, and in file format, which I also like. I guess this blue & white site will just take a bit of time for me to adjust to.

LIBRARYTHING

LibraryThing is a vehicle to help create a catalog of users books, so they can access it anywhere. It is a social site so people can connect and share if they have similar lists, and the reader can glean suggestions for further reading or additions to their collections. It appears to be a website unto itself, so no extra software is needed, provided your web browser works. Users can have an account for up to 200 books, afterwhich there is a small fee per annum or lifetime. The creator includes a very off-putting line in the starting up section: “I conservatively predict the revenue will enable me to recline all day on an enormous pile of gold.”

This is a site for the more serious reader or information collector, with the option to use LOC or Dui systems for cataloging.

I already use GoodReads (occasionally) on my Facebook, and currently dont see the use of operating multiple systems for my books– so I just joined up and entered 4 books as I had time, but would love to see what happens further – Ill do about 10 more & let you know if theres any developments. It was really easy to begin – just a user & password. Im looking forward to linking up with people who have similar lists. I think that once I get going with this site, it could be very useful socially.

GURULIB

Upon first glance, I thought "now this is my kind of library site!" (sorry Nuggen!) - it appeals to me visually as its bright & colourful, and is a global library facility so I can catalog my CDs & DVDs here as well. A one stop shop. Yessss!

AND the big bonus is how you can input the data – via your webcam with barcodes!! Its just like being at work in the bookshop only at home!!!

I tried to upload my iTunes files whilst checking some other sites , however I wont know if its successful or not for the next 6 days – as its saying thats how long it will take to check the items. Joy. So I guess I cant try it with books just yet as the uploading file is still going on the CDs. Bummer - I did things the wrong way around.

Its a lot simpler looking than the other sites – almost as if its made for kids (probably was!) This site is very bright and appeals to the visual user. I tried to use the webcam to scan in a book but it made my Safari suddenly quit twice, so for me, its not as convenient as it looked at first. Ill be getting a little barcode scanner I reckon – I dont like mucking around. This is a free site, and Im losing interest in it the more I try to use it. The social features are the same as LibraryThing, where your library is matched up with other users – the thing is, I guess each site attracts different users and it would be interesting to see what kind of people you meet on each site and how many people you match with.

Many more days are needed just to explore all the options and use these sites properly to find the right ones for me, but Ill keep on it because when the day comes that Ive got all my books, cds & dvds catalogued then everything will be perfect. I will sit very still and enjoy listening to the silence of everything being in order :)

Houston we have a problem...

Well I keep trying to get on top of this stuff but I cant do it if the Internal server at RMIT wont connect. I think theres a problem today. :(
Ive been happily tweeting silly little things (thats just me, please accept me the way I am, I cant help it) but this week the blackboard thing would only let me listen to half the lecture - I tried 3 different downloads of it. Ive had trouble getting the Week 2 Headers andFooters thing to work and am prevented from doing the OLE thing just now, so its a little frustrating when Ive made the time, & the technology stuffs up and consumes it all. It feels like Im wasting a valuable part of life when I have to sit down and battle with something that isnt going to work anyway. "Bugger" is my theme for today. :/
=====
Well Ive managed to get onto the server again this afternoon, so things were looking up, when I decided in the middle of the OLE thing that my computer program just isnt going to do what the task wants me do to. Ive been able to duplicate files & save them, but I cant do any of the copying & pasting it wants me to do. The bitmap presented itself as a green digitally spraypainted drawing the first time I clicked on it, then as about 10 pages full of ? in diamond shapes, & wouldnt copy. Im on a Mac, which is a problem with software as I dont have Office (yet - theres some fiddling around to do), so I think Im just going to postpone doing these end tutorial exercises until I can get the software - which is going to take a bit of time. I can open basic Word docs, but not zip files. Ive got Open Office, and need Bootcamp, then have to order a physical copy of Office for students. I cant do that until 25 April, as Im on school holidays and have no pay for the next 2 weeks. Joy. Might have to do all this in the computer lab at RMIT instead.

The Twitter thing...

I like Twitter. I might not use it extensively, consistently or ever again in the future, but I like it. Im havent been able to find many people in the course yet (probably because I havent looked in the right place), but I love the idea of being able to have some kind of connection of people who might be a mentor if I was actually in their circles, like actors or other musicians.

I value its use as a warning device for emergencies and current affairs postings - I read one article where someone at the scene of a plane crash put up a pic showing the safe land & passengers disembarking before the media got there. Or how a suicide was prevented by Demi Moore & one of her friends - someone they didnt know, who wasnt anywhere geographically near them - it really extends our capabilities as global citizens in this way. I read & saw on a podcast that people have got together over Twitter and raised loads of money for charity causes as short term projects (raising thousands in a matter of days). Heal the world, quick and easy! Theres loads of positives for this application that can benefit so many people in a way that we would have called 'miraculous' 10 years ago.

Some interesting sites I found (well, that I thought were interesting anyway), included Sleepytweet - a site that gathers all tweets with 'zzzz' in it and reproduces them in a little cartoon of birdies in a tree asleep at night. Commuterfeed and state emergencies are really handy, especially if you commute frequently & use Twitter on your phone. 'Secret tweet' allows you to tell your secret without revealing your identity - great for those who need to get something out in the open, and another - 'Curse bird', for the same thing only with cursing, and not anonymous. But you all know all that because youve done the Week 3 tutorial during Week 3, didnt you? yes.

The problems with Twitter that Ive come across seem to be about spamming and sales people - Ive had 2 on my account already: some travel agent guy in Melbourne, and someone who is into guns/computer games (called 'Counter strike'). ...
I subscribed to some internet travel tweeters such as Frommers, & their tweets flow thick and fast. I also clicked on a link to a picture of someone, then couldnt get back to my Twittering homepage.

Informations could use Twitter to assist their clients by using it to announce new information, event changes, new aquisitions or website updates - like I just found out that the bookshop where I used to work does - wish Id have known about that earlier!

Twitter sites that I thought were useful were the Commuter feed, trafficinmelb, mel_weather, Kikki-k (Im a huge fan, so this is essential), and for the course I also followed as many library sites I could get my mouse to click on. Musically speaking (which is the most useful for me), the list of people and organisations for me to follow is endless - there are musicians and actors everywhere to network with and watch tweets for hours on end. Artistic food on tap. Love it.

I cant find the right Barak Obama lead to follow, there are so many of them I dont know which one is the real one. - do any of you know?


Follow me on Twitter:
flicka875

Web adventure 2.0 Week 2 escapades....

I just cant get to the end of all the tasks they want us to do! - But heres a link to what Ive done on Wikis -its not much, but I actually feel a bit more useful now as I could select articles based on a topic and edit them. Thank goodness there were plenty about orchestras so I can speak my native language - (short concert announcements, mostly), so I looked through and corrected 5 of them. Click here to see my editing artistry on NLA!

I also altered the three Week 1 sections of the Web 2.0 adventure, just mucking around with the fonts & layout a bit: I was too scared to alter the actual content, as I thought it would just look vandalised, but perhaps that might have been the aim.

........and I even added these as hyperlinks - hope they work. Go me!!! *<:)~

WEB 2.0 ADVENTURE 1C q.6

READWRITEWEB
http://www.readwriteweb.com/

This took my interest in the feed of popular posts seemlingly covering all the main pages that our course is directing us to, such as what Facebook, Wiki, Twitter & Youtube are up to at the minute. I think itll help me get some quick insight into understanding this tidal wave of web info Ive had to digest since 4 weeks ago . I dont like all the advertising down the side - it makes the layout more confusing for me to read. The style of writing in the Weekly Wrapup isnt for me either, but obviously most websites arent written by descendants of Dickens, and the subject isnt of authentic interest to be honest. (I really need to get myself into gear & subscribe to some musos blogs to show you all what Im about....)
I subscribed to RWW on my RSS feed, and the ReadWriteCloud is a blog/feed by various contributors about issues the IT companies about the world are facing as the Web virtualises more & more of our operating lives. Good for Info managers to keep an eye on for current issues.

oh god!!! Im sooo ashamed.....

Ive just cottoned on to a few blogs from people in my online course and Im SOOOO ashamed!!!!! theyre so interesting & full of intellectual content and links and followers - Im starting to feel the impossibility of doing this course the way I am.

the joy of spending the weekend inside!

Well Ive discovered that every time I try to sit down and attend to this course my internet becomes unavailable for about 2 hours - oh joy. The last time was really legit - it was the day of the big hail storm so I had no internet for about 2 days.

Im discovering that it really down help to print stuff out and compile a dirty great big lever arch file full of pages even though this course is online, as theres stuff that I continually miss - maybe the layout isnt 'primary school' simple enough for me or something.
I keep relating all my course content back to music related things like playing & am itching to have some time to properly catalog my 2 filing cabinets full of printed flute music - something general public will be hugely interested in, Im sure - for their fires in winter!

I found an inspiring thing today on my feed when I went to check my email: I now actually WANT to sign up to Twitter!!!

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/6957696/hollywood-stars-help-prevent-suicide-after-twitter-alert/

you really can reach out for help - waaaaaayyy out into the whole world.....

Im hungry to buy lots of new technology since Ive started the course, such as an iPhone & an eReader - I love the way they dont hurt your eyes - Ive been wearing sunnies to do some of the online readings lately. Schedule wise I think Im mostly fine, except when events occur like my sister & nephew visiting, or if someone invites me out to a concert that I cant say no to.

I wonder if by playing a work if thats like opening up a document? as its a presentation of the information.....

Here I am - a bit late...

Hi ISYS people,

Im Felicity Kelly, and here is my first blog. There are many things in the course Im doing unwillingly, such as creating a blog, and subscribing to Twitter, but who knows, something good may come out of it later.

My concerns are that anyone can read this, Id rather just the course students and staff for the purposes of the course.

Ive just watched the film 'Julie & Julia', which, aside from cooking french dishes like a banshee, Julie kept a blog about everything she cooked and it attracted zillions of followers. I do wonder who on earth reads these things.

Im worried about this course at the moment, as I dont know how Im going to keep up with the workload - some things I just cant get to at this stage. Anyone else in the same boat?