The Last (only kidding) Post - the Future

After 32 posts in 31 days this will (NOT) be the final one.

The Taste of Web 2.0 course has helped distil my thoughts on the Internet, communication and human interaction into the future.

My guess is that in the near future (say 5 years time) the only important hardware and software we'll need is whatever gets us onto the Internet quickly and comfortably from wherever we are.
This course is a prime example of what I mean - every activity was done entirely on the internet.
It didn't matter where you were, whether you used a PC or Mac, what time of day you applied yourself, what software apart from a browser was installed on your computer, or what speed your connection was.
What mattered was that you could get to the course material online, complete the online tasks online, and access your material online.

This wasn't without its' problems though, and provided the first LN2BF (Lesson Never To Be Forgotten) :

LN2BF #1 - Be Organised Online.
With the multitude of links, and especially the number of sites we had to register for, it is crucial to have ALL your Bookmarks, User names and Passwords securely but readily accessible online.
My solution was to create a private Google Document with the various Usernames and Passwords recorded in an elementary code, and my Bookmarks on my private Netvibes page.
This meant I only had to remember one name and one password.

LN2BF#2 - Google is Good but not the Be-all and End-all
I didn't know that all the widgets and gadgets encountered existed, or that I could learn to play the piano accordian I'd bought on eBay by watching 10 YouTube video lessons, or that so many different programs and services existed on the Web.
I had used many useful Google services because they were offered to me by Google.
But Flickr is probably going to be more beneficial for me in future than Picasa Web Albums.
Netvibes will be more practical than iGoogle.
Even Blogger used in the course is not necessarily the most suitable program for my future blogging needs. A new Wordpress blog will start soon. (It looks and feels more "comfortable" with some added benefits.)

LN2BF#3 - Pulling and Pushing the Web for Your Benefit- Build Your Own Network
(Refer to the video mentioned previously)
I can decide what I want to Pull from the Web (or have pushed at me); what I want to Push or Put on the Web; and who knows what about me.
For example, the benefits to be gained from Flickr are quadrupled if I share some of my material and knowledge, and seek specific useful material from kindred spirits.
For 10 years I have been happy to be an invisible receiver of generally useful material.
I have now experienced the benefits of sharing my thoughts and material that, amazingly, others seem happy to receive.
And, by being more specific and selective, I can have less but better information Pushed to me.

Memo to self:
The future is about storing and organising your material in cyberspace, sharing but controlling what is shared with others, and keeping up with the best ways to access it.
Time and money should be spent on the storing, organising and accessing, NOT on computer hardware!

And a final note of gratitude to YPRL for setting up the course (and sending the email alerting me to it) : It is excellent and should almost be compulsory before allowing any library member to borrow any Internet related book!

Thank You.

Podcasts - Highlighting the need to be organised.

My podcast experience has highlighted a yet-to-be-overcome issue with using Web 2.0 technologies : How to consolidate all the discoveries in one central personal portal.

As can be seen from the haphazard and random nature of this blog, each activity is a revelation with a great temptation to be diverted to see where it may lead.
Such is the case with my podcast trial podcast subscriptions -  I've put them somewhere but can't now find them! They don't appear on my Google reader or my iGoogle page, or anywhere I can remember to look.
I particularly wanted to have Radio National's History broadcasts fed as podcasts so I'll have to go through the process again.

I'm guessing the final outcome of the Web 2.0 course will be to start again from scratch knowing then what is out there and having a single location that receives all the feeds - podcasts, blogs, videos etc (the things I am pulling from the Web)- AND the things I am putting on the web, like the blog, pictures and even websites.

This is desirable but probably worth holding off until all the modules are complete.

Module 2 Review : Must stop playing with Images

If nothing else, this module was FUN!
(Although I'd hate to do it with a dial-up connection.)

After posting a few pictures on Flickr; the "Tin Man" to my profile; and sticking to "Slow Learner" as a name; the various recommended resources opened up a whole new world.

Flickr got my images into cyberspace and onto the blog in a tricky little gizmo.
But (due to Tags) someone, somewhere, somehow saw one of the images and posted a comment.
What a buzz!

Then, using the same pictures, the image generators were discovered.
The blog is now littered with the various outcomes.

Image Chef allowed me to personalise their pictures, imagegenerator.org had hundreds of links to other gizmo's and dumpr was amazingly quick and easy.

I suspect that slide.com and dumpr are the best examples of Web 2.0 in action.
Without leaving the slide.com site I selected pictures from my Flickr stream, picked a presentation style and had the code generated to copy and paste into Blogger.
Dumpr went one better: picture from Flickr, played with on Dumpr, and posted directly into the blog as new posts - all without leaving Dumpr.

Bubbleshare received a quick glance but seemed to be duplicating Flickr.

Voicethread was explored but has been stored in the memory bank for a future, no-blogging application.

My favourites are those where a new image is created placing my original on a magazine cover or in an art gallery.

Summary: The image aspect of Web 2.0 is sensational because it is now multi-dimensional.
It's not just about the pictures, not just about the tricks and gadgets you can use with the pictures, but it's also about the social aspect of others seeing your outcomes and interacting.