Since we are on the topic of free battery replacement. I found out that my Sony T-350 Laptop is due for a free battery replacement. I submitted my information (Laptop Model, Serial, Battery Pack Model, Battery Serial No.) and I didn't hear from Sony for 2 days. Next thing I know, I got an email confirming that the brand new battery is on its way via next day Fedex shipping. Sure enough, I got my new battery in no time and it even included postage to send my "potentially" explosive battery back for proper disposal. Kudos to Sony for the simple and quick exchange.
Sony VAIO Notebook Battery Replacement
Since we are on the topic of free battery replacement. I found out that my Sony T-350 Laptop is due for a free battery replacement. I submitted my information (Laptop Model, Serial, Battery Pack Model, Battery Serial No.) and I didn't hear from Sony for 2 days. Next thing I know, I got an email confirming that the brand new battery is on its way via next day Fedex shipping. Sure enough, I got my new battery in no time and it even included postage to send my "potentially" explosive battery back for proper disposal. Kudos to Sony for the simple and quick exchange.
Illustrated HTML tags
Through a very interesting post Creative video presentations at the Presentation Zen blog I found the Visual HTML Jokes pool of photos that illustrate different HTML tags in a creative and fun way. My favorite photo of the pool is definitely this one:
I think these photos can be really useful when teaching the concept of HTML tags. Also, I think challenging students to create their own illustrated HTML tags would be a really great and fun learning activity, in which both sides of the brain are engaged.
I think these photos can be really useful when teaching the concept of HTML tags. Also, I think challenging students to create their own illustrated HTML tags would be a really great and fun learning activity, in which both sides of the brain are engaged.
Playing with Flickr
I know Flickr has been around for quite some time, but until now I haven't really felt the need to use their service. I didn't have many photos to share, and I wasn't particularly interested in searching for other people's photos either. However, Flickr has been on my to-join list for some time because of its potential educational uses, and today I finally took the time to create an account. Primarily I wanted to do this so I could share the graphics I've created so far for my blog, because until now you only got access to my graphics in separate posts and that really isn't very Web 2.0 ;) So, here it is, my iAlja blog graphics set.
I also wanted to try out the Groups feature of Flickr, so I created The faces of Moodle, a group where I'd like to see the looks of different Moodle sites around the world. So, feel free to join me on Flickr, and if you have a Moodle site please post a screenshot of it to my group (and don't forget to put it on the map ;) ).
I also wanted to try out the Groups feature of Flickr, so I created The faces of Moodle, a group where I'd like to see the looks of different Moodle sites around the world. So, feel free to join me on Flickr, and if you have a Moodle site please post a screenshot of it to my group (and don't forget to put it on the map ;) ).
When words are not enough...
Today I wanted to share with you an interesting experience about using comics to help students with their first login to our e-classroom. Let me do by explaining a bit of background to the story. Many of the courses at out faculty are in some way or another supported by our e-classroom (based on Moodle) and so most of our students need the access to our e-classroom to get study materials or participate in other study activities. For their first login students are asked to enter their unique student number as their username and password (which they can of course change later). This works for most of the students, though some students (like those that enrolled after the official beginning of the study year) don't yet have an account created, because they weren't included in the transmission of student data from the faculty's information system. Yes sure, we could figure out a better way to automatically create student accounts, but the current system works well for most students.
Now, all I've just described above was clearly explained to our students on the first page of our e-classroom. We provided students with short and concise instructions on what they should do on their first login and what they should do (email our Center for e-learning) if that didn't work. We thought the instructions were clear enough, but a great number of students disagreed. We were getting a dozen mails per day by confused or frustrated students that couldn't get in the e-classroom and were asking for help. Many mails did not include the information we asked students to include when asking for help. And we saw that as a big problem. Clearly, too many students were not able to properly understand (decode) the given instructions. Also, they were experiencing confusion and frustration, which is definitely not something you'd want students to experience when first meeting a new technology. First impressions matter, right?
This problem has troubled me for some time. I was trying to think of better ways to explain the login procedure to students and the solution that helped to solve at least a bit of the problem was found almost by chance. I almost accidentally stumbled upon the post Design Comics Templates 1.0, Part I on Martin Hardee's blog, which provided wonderfully illustrated characters and scenes that can be used for comic storyboards. I immediately fell in love with the pictures and started thinking about ways in which I could use them. At first it was almost a joke, but I decided to make a short comic explaining the login process of our e-classroom. The pictures were perfect for this. I used Comic Life (the basic version comes free with Mac OS X) to create the comic and we decided to put them on the first page of our e-classroom, above the written instructions. The login page of our e-classroom now looks like this:
And I was actually surprised by the fact that the comic almost immediately helped to lower the number of mails we receive and that students requesting login now included all the required information (just the way the girl in the comic does). Wow! I didn't believe it would make such a noticeable difference, but it does. It seems that our students pay more attention to the content of the comic than they did to the content of the written instructions. No serious research has been done about this (at least yet :) ), but a few students already responded to the short survey about the comic that we posted in the e-classroom and they all said the instructions in the comic are easier to understand than the written ones before.
So, the reason for which I've decided to share this experience with you was that it has reminded me that we sometimes have to look outside the box to find a better solution to our problems and that too often we forget how valuable pictures and illustrations really are. For students that are faced with a new environment I guess it's easier to understand a comic that shows a similar situation to what they're experiencing in the same moment. It is after all in human nature to learn from observation and also to feel closer to content that has "a human face". Spoken or written language is a great and powerful way to communicate, but we must not forget other forms of communication, especially the visual. I should know that - after all, I do have a bit of background in graphical design.
I was also reminded about this by Stephen Downes, who wrote that he really liked my "Click. Learn. Share." icons (and I even got a mail about them this morning :) ). Sometimes words just are not enough and we should never forget that we have many powerful ways that can help our words to be heard - especially in the noise of everyday life. I think that can be a challenge for all of us, but especially for educators. Verbalized textbooks have ruled the past, but we need to learn new forms of communication. I think this will be increasingly important if we'll want to get the attention of the digital natives that are slowly taking over the world and that are discovering the power of visual communication through YouTube, MySpace, Flickr and other visual channels.
I think the proper way to end this post is to ask all of you to share your stories of how words were not enough. Why should this be done? To inspire new experiences and to serve as a reminder that creative solutions are key to the challenges of the 21st century.
Now, all I've just described above was clearly explained to our students on the first page of our e-classroom. We provided students with short and concise instructions on what they should do on their first login and what they should do (email our Center for e-learning) if that didn't work. We thought the instructions were clear enough, but a great number of students disagreed. We were getting a dozen mails per day by confused or frustrated students that couldn't get in the e-classroom and were asking for help. Many mails did not include the information we asked students to include when asking for help. And we saw that as a big problem. Clearly, too many students were not able to properly understand (decode) the given instructions. Also, they were experiencing confusion and frustration, which is definitely not something you'd want students to experience when first meeting a new technology. First impressions matter, right?
This problem has troubled me for some time. I was trying to think of better ways to explain the login procedure to students and the solution that helped to solve at least a bit of the problem was found almost by chance. I almost accidentally stumbled upon the post Design Comics Templates 1.0, Part I on Martin Hardee's blog, which provided wonderfully illustrated characters and scenes that can be used for comic storyboards. I immediately fell in love with the pictures and started thinking about ways in which I could use them. At first it was almost a joke, but I decided to make a short comic explaining the login process of our e-classroom. The pictures were perfect for this. I used Comic Life (the basic version comes free with Mac OS X) to create the comic and we decided to put them on the first page of our e-classroom, above the written instructions. The login page of our e-classroom now looks like this:
And I was actually surprised by the fact that the comic almost immediately helped to lower the number of mails we receive and that students requesting login now included all the required information (just the way the girl in the comic does). Wow! I didn't believe it would make such a noticeable difference, but it does. It seems that our students pay more attention to the content of the comic than they did to the content of the written instructions. No serious research has been done about this (at least yet :) ), but a few students already responded to the short survey about the comic that we posted in the e-classroom and they all said the instructions in the comic are easier to understand than the written ones before.So, the reason for which I've decided to share this experience with you was that it has reminded me that we sometimes have to look outside the box to find a better solution to our problems and that too often we forget how valuable pictures and illustrations really are. For students that are faced with a new environment I guess it's easier to understand a comic that shows a similar situation to what they're experiencing in the same moment. It is after all in human nature to learn from observation and also to feel closer to content that has "a human face". Spoken or written language is a great and powerful way to communicate, but we must not forget other forms of communication, especially the visual. I should know that - after all, I do have a bit of background in graphical design.
I was also reminded about this by Stephen Downes, who wrote that he really liked my "Click. Learn. Share." icons (and I even got a mail about them this morning :) ). Sometimes words just are not enough and we should never forget that we have many powerful ways that can help our words to be heard - especially in the noise of everyday life. I think that can be a challenge for all of us, but especially for educators. Verbalized textbooks have ruled the past, but we need to learn new forms of communication. I think this will be increasingly important if we'll want to get the attention of the digital natives that are slowly taking over the world and that are discovering the power of visual communication through YouTube, MySpace, Flickr and other visual channels.
I think the proper way to end this post is to ask all of you to share your stories of how words were not enough. Why should this be done? To inspire new experiences and to serve as a reminder that creative solutions are key to the challenges of the 21st century.
Free Battery for Samsung Blackjack
Normally, I don't like to repeat news from other websites, however, when its truely beneficial to my fellow smartphone users, I would gladly repeat this news as reported by Engadget Mobile. "Enjoying the Cingular BlackJack but finding that the batt life is really weak? Happy days are here my friends -- at least for a select bunch of you. If you haven't already rushed out and dropped $50 on the extended battery for your trusty Windows Mobile device, contrary to what everybody tells us, procrastination can indeed pay off. Apparently some things in life are free! Cingular is offering no cost extended-life love for any BlackJack purchased with only the two standard batteries in the package. Simply zip over here, enter your IMEI number, (this can be found by typing *#06# on phone keypad, or looking under the battery, and is even printed on your box) and mobile number in the handy dandy form. Apparently IMEI numbers between 352794010030189 to 352794012269959 are good to go, so hurry up and grab yours before the deal is done."
Can you help?
Can you help? Please donate to help young Laura who is diagnosed with cancer. During the past couple of years she has undergone many treatments of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, she has had one kidney removed, her spleen has been removed along with part of her pancreas. On Jan 5th 2007 she had 3 tumours removed from her lungs.The out look for Laura is not good, it was her 3rd birthday
The people who say Web 2.0 apps are garbage are completely right -- and utterly wrong
The backlash against "Web 2.0" has been underway for some time now, with many very insightful analysts and reporters pointing out the surplus of overlapping products, the uncertain business models, and the relentless hype. I think many of those critiques are right on -- a lot of the Web 2.0 companies are pointless and won't ever make money. Maybe even most of them.
But that's not the whole story. When you step back from the individual trees and look at the forest, I think the things happening in web apps today are really and truly revolutionary. If anything, the changes are a lot more profound than most people realize. And I believe they're just getting started.
As I've mentioned in other posts, the Web isn't just a place for publishing content, it's also rapidly maturing as a platform for developing new software applications. (Quick definition: in Silicon Valley-speak, a platform is a technology on top of which people build other products. Windows is a platform, as is Linux.) To me, the most important thing about the Web 2.0 sites is that they blur the distinctions between web pages and applications. Most of them don't just present information, they also let you create or manipulate it, as would a software program on your PC. Google Maps isn't just a website, it's an application for searching maps. Ten years ago, you would have bought it on a CD-ROM and installed it on your PC.
Participating in the blossoming of a new software platform is one of the most exciting things you can do in the tech industry. I've been lucky enough to be in on it twice now (Macintosh and Palm OS), and it's great because you get to work with a lot of smart developers who produce cool and surprising stuff. The excitement is infectious (thus the hype about Web 2.0).
But despite the attention people put on platforms, the way a new platform develops is not well understood in the tech industry. I think that's why people are getting confused about the fate of the Web 2.0 companies.
For example, here's a quiz -- do you know what the following names have in common? (No fair using Wikipedia; you have to do this on your own.)
Paladin
Ann Arbor
Cricket
Aldus
Silicon Beach
T/Maker
Living Videotext
If you said they're some of the most prominent early software developers* for the Macintosh, you're half right. The other thing they all have in common is that they're long gone -- out of business, sold off, or just plain faded away. In fact, other than Adobe and Microsoft, virtually none of the prominent early Mac developers are still independent businesses.
The melancholy fact is that the vast majority of the early developers on any platform fail.
This carnage of the early developers happens because a new platform is by definition unexplored territory. The developers are basically trying a series of experiments to see which types of applications will sell well. Their hit rate is better than playing the lottery, which is why VCs are willing to fund them, but inevitably most of the experiments fail.
That doesn't make the platform a failure, and it doesn't mean the applications were a waste. The successful experiments make a ton of money, more than enough to make up for the failures. And even the applications that don't survive long term often teach us new concepts and business models.
I think the same sort of shakeout is going to happen with the current crop of web apps. Most of them will eventually die or get merged into other things. That's no big deal, it's how a platform works. What matters is what we're learning through this Darwinian process. And from that viewpoint, the Web applications world is shaping up as a stunning success.
I think the three most important developments we're seeing in the web apps world are:
1. We're learning how to create new communities rapidly and focus them on useful tasks.
2. The Web is spawning new forms of media at an unprecedented rate.
3. The Web apps platform is starting to evolve exponentially.
I know the Web apps world is overhyped, so I say this very carefully and very sincerely: I think any one of those trends would be enough to drive major changes in the tech industry and the world beyond. The fact that all three are happening at once is, to me, quite remarkable, and I think it's going to have an enormous effect on our lives in the next 20 years.
I want to talk about each one of the trends, and then wrap up with some comments on overall implications and what to watch for next. Unfortunately, this post started to get waaay too long, so I'm going to do it in stages. I'll start with communities in the next post.
In the meantime, here's an example of what happens when somebody starts to sense what's happening in web apps. This is from Mike Rowehl, a software developer in the mobile phone industry, commenting on what he saw at the 3GSM telephony conference in February 2007:
Mike, you ain't seen nothing yet.
__________
*Here's a key to those old Mac developers. Even though the firms and most of the products disappeared, many of the product concepts, and the people, went on to great success. I expect the same thing to happen in web apps.
Cricket Software. Creator of a series of Mac graphics programs, including Cricket Graph, Cricket Draw, and Cricket Presents (one of the first presentation programs -- a category that Apple called "Desktop Presentations" in an effort to duplicate the desktop publishing phenomenon). Cricket was run by Jim Rafferty, a really nice guy who went on to found and co-found several other companies. I couldn't figure out what he's doing now; please post a comment if you know.
Paladin Software was creator of Crunch, a Macintosh spreadsheet program that went head to head with Excel and lost. I thought Crunch was much easier to use than Excel, with an innovative icon bar for commonly used functions. Microsoft kind of borrowed that feature later (check the screenshots here).
Aldus. Creator of PageMaker. Adobe gets the credit today for driving desktop publishing, but PageMaker was the greatest page layout product of its time, easy to use and very powerful. I believe it was the program most responsible for making the Mac a commercial success. Aldus was run by Paul Brainerd, an extremely nice guy who told his company to respond to requests from small software developers like me. Thanks, Paul! He's now a philanthropist.
Ann Arbor Softworks developed FullWrite, which claimed to be the first fully WYSIWYG word processor, and which was also one of the most notoriously prolonged instances of vaporware in computing history.
T/Maker was one of the early developers of Macintosh desktop publishing software. Heidi Roizen, CEO of the company during its Macintosh days, was a deeply respected Macintosh software entrepreneur, and later became VP of the developer relations team at Apple. She's now a venture capitalist.
Living Videotext. Produced the ThinkTank and More outliners. Run by a guy named Dave Winer. And yeah, he was just as outspoken back then.
Silicon Beach Software. Mention "Silicon Beach" to an old-time Mac user and they'll probably just sigh. The company was responsible for many of the most creative Mac programs of its time, including a game called Dark Castle and SuperCard, an early hypertext development environment that extended Apple's HyperCard in wonderful ways. Some Silicon Beach veterans later founded Back to the Beach Software, whose name is a tribute to Silicon Beach.
But that's not the whole story. When you step back from the individual trees and look at the forest, I think the things happening in web apps today are really and truly revolutionary. If anything, the changes are a lot more profound than most people realize. And I believe they're just getting started.
As I've mentioned in other posts, the Web isn't just a place for publishing content, it's also rapidly maturing as a platform for developing new software applications. (Quick definition: in Silicon Valley-speak, a platform is a technology on top of which people build other products. Windows is a platform, as is Linux.) To me, the most important thing about the Web 2.0 sites is that they blur the distinctions between web pages and applications. Most of them don't just present information, they also let you create or manipulate it, as would a software program on your PC. Google Maps isn't just a website, it's an application for searching maps. Ten years ago, you would have bought it on a CD-ROM and installed it on your PC.
Participating in the blossoming of a new software platform is one of the most exciting things you can do in the tech industry. I've been lucky enough to be in on it twice now (Macintosh and Palm OS), and it's great because you get to work with a lot of smart developers who produce cool and surprising stuff. The excitement is infectious (thus the hype about Web 2.0).
But despite the attention people put on platforms, the way a new platform develops is not well understood in the tech industry. I think that's why people are getting confused about the fate of the Web 2.0 companies.
For example, here's a quiz -- do you know what the following names have in common? (No fair using Wikipedia; you have to do this on your own.)
Paladin
Ann Arbor
Cricket
Aldus
Silicon Beach
T/Maker
Living Videotext
If you said they're some of the most prominent early software developers* for the Macintosh, you're half right. The other thing they all have in common is that they're long gone -- out of business, sold off, or just plain faded away. In fact, other than Adobe and Microsoft, virtually none of the prominent early Mac developers are still independent businesses.
The melancholy fact is that the vast majority of the early developers on any platform fail.
This carnage of the early developers happens because a new platform is by definition unexplored territory. The developers are basically trying a series of experiments to see which types of applications will sell well. Their hit rate is better than playing the lottery, which is why VCs are willing to fund them, but inevitably most of the experiments fail.
That doesn't make the platform a failure, and it doesn't mean the applications were a waste. The successful experiments make a ton of money, more than enough to make up for the failures. And even the applications that don't survive long term often teach us new concepts and business models.
I think the same sort of shakeout is going to happen with the current crop of web apps. Most of them will eventually die or get merged into other things. That's no big deal, it's how a platform works. What matters is what we're learning through this Darwinian process. And from that viewpoint, the Web applications world is shaping up as a stunning success.
I think the three most important developments we're seeing in the web apps world are:
1. We're learning how to create new communities rapidly and focus them on useful tasks.
2. The Web is spawning new forms of media at an unprecedented rate.
3. The Web apps platform is starting to evolve exponentially.
I know the Web apps world is overhyped, so I say this very carefully and very sincerely: I think any one of those trends would be enough to drive major changes in the tech industry and the world beyond. The fact that all three are happening at once is, to me, quite remarkable, and I think it's going to have an enormous effect on our lives in the next 20 years.
I want to talk about each one of the trends, and then wrap up with some comments on overall implications and what to watch for next. Unfortunately, this post started to get waaay too long, so I'm going to do it in stages. I'll start with communities in the next post.
In the meantime, here's an example of what happens when somebody starts to sense what's happening in web apps. This is from Mike Rowehl, a software developer in the mobile phone industry, commenting on what he saw at the 3GSM telephony conference in February 2007:
"I was forced to realize that the mobile world won’t end up changing the online world like I had assumed it would. It really looks like the innovation is going to flow the other way around. People who are already working in mobile have had all semblance of initiative and innovation beaten out of them. You can lay a new business model down in front of them and explain in detail how it works, and generally they aren’t able to grasp it unless it looks enough like something they already know. However, people coming from the online world and looking to expand into mobile generally are accustomed to a shifting environment and taking in new opportunities and integrating them into their mental framework.... The stage should be set for mobile to completely subsume the online world. But instead it’s the people from the online world staggering out into the sun and realizing there’s no one trying to grab the potential of the new medium and just picking up the pieces waiting for them."
Mike, you ain't seen nothing yet.
__________
*Here's a key to those old Mac developers. Even though the firms and most of the products disappeared, many of the product concepts, and the people, went on to great success. I expect the same thing to happen in web apps.
Cricket Software. Creator of a series of Mac graphics programs, including Cricket Graph, Cricket Draw, and Cricket Presents (one of the first presentation programs -- a category that Apple called "Desktop Presentations" in an effort to duplicate the desktop publishing phenomenon). Cricket was run by Jim Rafferty, a really nice guy who went on to found and co-found several other companies. I couldn't figure out what he's doing now; please post a comment if you know.
Paladin Software was creator of Crunch, a Macintosh spreadsheet program that went head to head with Excel and lost. I thought Crunch was much easier to use than Excel, with an innovative icon bar for commonly used functions. Microsoft kind of borrowed that feature later (check the screenshots here).
Aldus. Creator of PageMaker. Adobe gets the credit today for driving desktop publishing, but PageMaker was the greatest page layout product of its time, easy to use and very powerful. I believe it was the program most responsible for making the Mac a commercial success. Aldus was run by Paul Brainerd, an extremely nice guy who told his company to respond to requests from small software developers like me. Thanks, Paul! He's now a philanthropist.
Ann Arbor Softworks developed FullWrite, which claimed to be the first fully WYSIWYG word processor, and which was also one of the most notoriously prolonged instances of vaporware in computing history.
T/Maker was one of the early developers of Macintosh desktop publishing software. Heidi Roizen, CEO of the company during its Macintosh days, was a deeply respected Macintosh software entrepreneur, and later became VP of the developer relations team at Apple. She's now a venture capitalist.
Living Videotext. Produced the ThinkTank and More outliners. Run by a guy named Dave Winer. And yeah, he was just as outspoken back then.
Silicon Beach Software. Mention "Silicon Beach" to an old-time Mac user and they'll probably just sigh. The company was responsible for many of the most creative Mac programs of its time, including a game called Dark Castle and SuperCard, an early hypertext development environment that extended Apple's HyperCard in wonderful ways. Some Silicon Beach veterans later founded Back to the Beach Software, whose name is a tribute to Silicon Beach.
Is your cell phone bugged
Is your cell phone buggedVortex (a US company) has produced an online Video, which they say is "to explain this issue in a more demonstrative and somewhat less technical manner..."http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3437321657032158285&hl=enIt raises some quizzical issues. This is not my attempt to be dismissive of what they are saying, but I could not help but think it does rely upon the
Smartphones Lacking Integrated WiFi
I have always been a big fan of smartphones with WiFi and believed that our progress in mobile internet experience can benefit greatly if all cell phones come with integrated WiFi. But taking a look at the current state of cell phones sold by the big four carriers reflects only a tiny fraction of their product line offers built-in WiFi. I have put together a list below and if you look at the phones carefully, you'll notice that besides the Samsung SCH-i730, the rest are supplied by a Taiwanese vendor HTC:
PPC-6700 (Sprint)
Samsung SCH-i730 (Verizon)
XV6700 (Verizon)
8525 (Cingular)
8125 (Cingular)
SDA (T-Mobile)
Dash (T-Mobile)
MDA (T-Mobile)
So, here is my beef: 1). What is wrong with the manufacturers today? Why are they selling a bunch of smartphones without WiFi? Is HTC the only company in the industry with the common sense? 2). When will the carriers realize that charging $30-$45 per month for their unlimited data package (EDGE or EV-DO) is too much for average cell phone consumers? To reach critical mass, the price of data package should be around $10/mo. Until they lower the monthly rates, give us integrated WiFi!
PPC-6700 (Sprint)
Samsung SCH-i730 (Verizon)
XV6700 (Verizon)
8525 (Cingular)
8125 (Cingular)
SDA (T-Mobile)
Dash (T-Mobile)
MDA (T-Mobile)
So, here is my beef: 1). What is wrong with the manufacturers today? Why are they selling a bunch of smartphones without WiFi? Is HTC the only company in the industry with the common sense? 2). When will the carriers realize that charging $30-$45 per month for their unlimited data package (EDGE or EV-DO) is too much for average cell phone consumers? To reach critical mass, the price of data package should be around $10/mo. Until they lower the monthly rates, give us integrated WiFi!
First Moodle Moot in Slovenia!
At last! I am happy and proud to announce that the first Moodle Moot in Slovenia will be held on May 18th 2007 in Koper, Slovenia. Moodle Moots are conferences for Moodle users that Moodle lovers organize all around the world (more info can be found here). Since we opened Moodle.si (an online community for Moodle users in Slovenia) it's also been our wish to organize a live event where Moodle users can meet in person and exchange tips and tricks ;-) Now, after a few months of planning, meetings and ideas of all sorts we are finally a step closer to making our wish come true.
More info about our moodle.si conference can be found here, although the site is in Slovenian language only. If you don't understand Slovenian and would like to know more about the conference or even participate in some way, please feel free to leave a comment on this post or email me :-)
More info about our moodle.si conference can be found here, although the site is in Slovenian language only. If you don't understand Slovenian and would like to know more about the conference or even participate in some way, please feel free to leave a comment on this post or email me :-)
USB Profiler mobile 'phone examination
USB Profiler mobile 'phone examinationEver found it annoying, like I have, when trying to examine mobile 'phones and SIMs/USIMs that given the fast range of applications and USB plug-in devices to be used it becomes difficult to know which USB connections are actually running on the computer. That means not just USB devices logged as previously being used but whether there is a live-link
Going to the Emerging Telephony conference
I'm going to the Emerging Telephony conference February 27 to March 1. If you're going and want to meet there, drop me a note. You can find my contact info here.
GPS Mobile Phone Computer Training Shoes
GPS Mobile Phone Computer Training ShoesThe conventional mobile 'phone looks set to radically undergo a design change, if the above training shoe becomes popular. The internal microphone and speaker fitted into the trainer can be configured to act as a wireless phone. The trainer even comes with a USB port. Problems might arise of course when going through customs or airport security and you are
Living the Web 2.0
The video Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us by Michael Wesch that I posted last week made me think quite a lot about my personal relationship with Web 2.0 (or the Read/Write Web as some prefer to call it). I think that the concept of Web 2.0 can really be understood only if you use and explore its technologies and apply it on your own life. And I also think that reflecting on how Web 2.0 technologies affect our lives can provide additional valuable information. In this post I'd like to share with you my personal account and thoughts on what Web 2.0 means to me and what impacts it's having on my daily life.
My typical day starts with a cup of coffee and a click on my browser icon. It's strange now that I think about it, but the first thing I do in the morning (no matter what I have to do during a particular day) is to start my browser - Safari. I don't stop to think - oh, I need my browser now! - I just do it. Just a few years ago I'd then type in the address of a news site, but now the first thing I check in my browser are the web feeds. I regularly try to organize and reduce the number of feeds I'm subscribed to, but usually I'm stuck between 50 or 100 feeds (and here I'm counting just the feeds I regularly read). I have my feeds organized in folders in Safari's bookmark bar that is always visible. That allows me to see how many unread feeds I have at any given movement. It is a bit intrusive, but that's the way I like it (most of the times). I've tried using applications and web sites to keep track of my feeds, but I always come back to Safari's bookmark bar because it's always there, always telling me hey! click on me, I've got news! And sometimes I do feel the pressure of all those unread feeds; I feel like I'm missing something if I don't click them right away. Reading web feeds and following links they provide in a ways makes me feel connected. It gives me the feeling that I know what's going on right now and what the most interesting topics on the net are.
The number of feeds makes me read a minimum of 10 posts a day (on a calm day that is), but it doesn't just stop at reading and clicking links. Fact is that whenever I find an interesting post or link I immediately feel the need to share it. A few years ago I'd perhaps email or IM the link to family or friends, but now it's just much more. I feel the need to share it with the world - I don't want just friends and colleagues to read this link, I want to give everyone in the world that might be interested in a certain topic a chance to read it! And so I always make sure to share the really interesting posts/links at least on TeacherShare.org or/and Moodle.si. Isn't that interesting?
Checking web feeds and sharing interesting links is just the beginning of my Web 2.0 connected day. Both activities continue throughout the day, no matter what I do. My browser is always with me, showing me new feeds, offering opportunities to share, to connect. During the day I of course do other things - research, write, create, innovate - and I think that now more than ever I also actively think about what I do, try to find meaning, try to extract valuable lessons etc. and what for? To share them on this blog.
Keeping a blog makes me an active seeker of content that will be interesting and relevant for you: the readers of my blog. I am now the editor of my personal channel and for this reason I feel a big responsibility for the "life" of my blog - it is up to me to keep it interesting, current and worth reading. And all this also makes my primary work as a researcher more engaging, and even more valuable and meaningful to me. I feel that I can do much more than just the task in front of me. I am constantly learning, collecting experiences and thinking about how they could be shared for others to read. I try to write at least one post per week about what I currently do, what I am thinking about, what questions I am trying to answer... and I love the way my blog "obligation" is keeping me busy and active. If I can't find any new valuable ideas in my work I am motivated to go elsewhere. On other blogs, where I can even interact with the authors and readers of those blogs. I have in fact became an active seeker or ideas that I try to transform into new content that can be shared with the purpose of inspiring new ideas. Wow!
And though a lot of my usage of Web 2.0 technologies is work related, it certainly doesn't stop when I stop working or thinking about work. In the evening when I try to relax and get away from the computer, usually my activities involve watching a movie, reading a book, playing games or just having a great conversation with my dear ones. One would think I forget Web 2.0 at this point - well, think again. The Web 2.0 is always at the reach of our hands. When deciding upon which movie to watch we go and check IMDB, see what other users say, or check out the list of the highest rated movies. The same happens when choosing books or games. It seems so normal that you look anything up on the net and see what others say - and in most cases what matters most is not the opinion of professional critics, but of ordinary people (though all persons of the year 2006 according to Times magazine).
I'm really amazed at what big part Web 2.0 plays in my life (and I in its life). In just a few years it has entered our lives from different doors and it's growing stronger and more powerful days by day. And for this reason I agree with what Michael Wesch pointed out in his video - we really need to rethink a lot of things. Among these things I think that rethinking ourselves is one of the key points. We are being linked in previously unthinkable ways and our lives are being changed. What kind of changes is that bringing us? Are the changes improving our lives or crippling the social aspect of our analogue real lives as some fear?
The answers to these questions are many - and there should be. For me the most important changes are the feeling of connectedness, the feeling of responsibility, the need to share and the trust systems that the users of Web 2.0 are building among each other (just take for example Wikipedia). These are the changes I find most valuable and that I hope I (and others) will be able to keep and use not just for a better and more useful Web 2.0, but also to build a better future - together, by connecting are ideas and constructing new worlds.
My typical day starts with a cup of coffee and a click on my browser icon. It's strange now that I think about it, but the first thing I do in the morning (no matter what I have to do during a particular day) is to start my browser - Safari. I don't stop to think - oh, I need my browser now! - I just do it. Just a few years ago I'd then type in the address of a news site, but now the first thing I check in my browser are the web feeds. I regularly try to organize and reduce the number of feeds I'm subscribed to, but usually I'm stuck between 50 or 100 feeds (and here I'm counting just the feeds I regularly read). I have my feeds organized in folders in Safari's bookmark bar that is always visible. That allows me to see how many unread feeds I have at any given movement. It is a bit intrusive, but that's the way I like it (most of the times). I've tried using applications and web sites to keep track of my feeds, but I always come back to Safari's bookmark bar because it's always there, always telling me hey! click on me, I've got news! And sometimes I do feel the pressure of all those unread feeds; I feel like I'm missing something if I don't click them right away. Reading web feeds and following links they provide in a ways makes me feel connected. It gives me the feeling that I know what's going on right now and what the most interesting topics on the net are.
The number of feeds makes me read a minimum of 10 posts a day (on a calm day that is), but it doesn't just stop at reading and clicking links. Fact is that whenever I find an interesting post or link I immediately feel the need to share it. A few years ago I'd perhaps email or IM the link to family or friends, but now it's just much more. I feel the need to share it with the world - I don't want just friends and colleagues to read this link, I want to give everyone in the world that might be interested in a certain topic a chance to read it! And so I always make sure to share the really interesting posts/links at least on TeacherShare.org or/and Moodle.si. Isn't that interesting?Checking web feeds and sharing interesting links is just the beginning of my Web 2.0 connected day. Both activities continue throughout the day, no matter what I do. My browser is always with me, showing me new feeds, offering opportunities to share, to connect. During the day I of course do other things - research, write, create, innovate - and I think that now more than ever I also actively think about what I do, try to find meaning, try to extract valuable lessons etc. and what for? To share them on this blog.
Keeping a blog makes me an active seeker of content that will be interesting and relevant for you: the readers of my blog. I am now the editor of my personal channel and for this reason I feel a big responsibility for the "life" of my blog - it is up to me to keep it interesting, current and worth reading. And all this also makes my primary work as a researcher more engaging, and even more valuable and meaningful to me. I feel that I can do much more than just the task in front of me. I am constantly learning, collecting experiences and thinking about how they could be shared for others to read. I try to write at least one post per week about what I currently do, what I am thinking about, what questions I am trying to answer... and I love the way my blog "obligation" is keeping me busy and active. If I can't find any new valuable ideas in my work I am motivated to go elsewhere. On other blogs, where I can even interact with the authors and readers of those blogs. I have in fact became an active seeker or ideas that I try to transform into new content that can be shared with the purpose of inspiring new ideas. Wow!And though a lot of my usage of Web 2.0 technologies is work related, it certainly doesn't stop when I stop working or thinking about work. In the evening when I try to relax and get away from the computer, usually my activities involve watching a movie, reading a book, playing games or just having a great conversation with my dear ones. One would think I forget Web 2.0 at this point - well, think again. The Web 2.0 is always at the reach of our hands. When deciding upon which movie to watch we go and check IMDB, see what other users say, or check out the list of the highest rated movies. The same happens when choosing books or games. It seems so normal that you look anything up on the net and see what others say - and in most cases what matters most is not the opinion of professional critics, but of ordinary people (though all persons of the year 2006 according to Times magazine).
I'm really amazed at what big part Web 2.0 plays in my life (and I in its life). In just a few years it has entered our lives from different doors and it's growing stronger and more powerful days by day. And for this reason I agree with what Michael Wesch pointed out in his video - we really need to rethink a lot of things. Among these things I think that rethinking ourselves is one of the key points. We are being linked in previously unthinkable ways and our lives are being changed. What kind of changes is that bringing us? Are the changes improving our lives or crippling the social aspect of our analogue real lives as some fear?
The answers to these questions are many - and there should be. For me the most important changes are the feeling of connectedness, the feeling of responsibility, the need to share and the trust systems that the users of Web 2.0 are building among each other (just take for example Wikipedia). These are the changes I find most valuable and that I hope I (and others) will be able to keep and use not just for a better and more useful Web 2.0, but also to build a better future - together, by connecting are ideas and constructing new worlds.
The rise of the information ecosystem: How mobile devices, personal computing, media, and the Internet all fit together
Fair warning: This is going to be one of those philosophical posts on strategy. If you're looking for quick gratification, I recommend browsing the archives here.
Anyone still reading?
Okay. The other day I got a bit of flak for posting a note about Hollywood's view of the Web. "Your weblog's about mobility," the comments said. "Stay on topic."
I sincerely appreciate the feedback, but it was a surprise. As far as I was concerned, I was staying on topic. But then I realized that I've never actually explained what I'm trying to accomplish in this weblog, and so of course people might confused. I'd like to fix that right now.
I started this weblog to comment on the mobile industry, but as time went on and my work at Rubicon exposed me to a wider range of tech companies, I found that the boundaries of mobile were getting harder and harder to define. I'm now convinced that you can't understand the mobile world as a separate industry, because it's deeply interconnected with three other industries that deal with information: the Internet, personal computing, and the media (including video, print publications, games, and so on).
All four industries like to think of themselves as separate. But in reality, they depend on each other heavily, and the connections are deepening all the time. In each industry, it's commonplace for people to be blind-sided by unexpected changes, or for major initiatives to fail dismally. I think that's a symptom of the growing connections. Because we can't yet see all the connections, success and failure become more a matter of luck than skill.
The idea that those industries are merging has been around for years -- I remember a colleague making that argument at Apple back in the early 1990s. But I think "merging" or "convergence" isn't the right metaphor. What's emerging is more like a tropical jungle where a rare tree is the favorite roost of a bat that's fed on by a mosquito whose larvae are eaten by a fish that secretes the cure to cancer in its skin. Everything's connected in subtle ways that we don't understand.
Call it the information ecosystem.
Some very bright people have used the term "information ecosystem" in the past to refer to the Internet or Web 2.0, but I think it encompasses all four industries.
That ecosystem is what I'm trying to map in this weblog, because that's where the opportunity is. I don't pretend to have all the connections mapped yet; nobody does. But what we can see so far suggests that we're still in the early stages of the new ecosystem. I think the big changes are still to come.
The new information ecosystem
Back in ancient times (around 1975), the old information ecosystem looked like the diagram below. Most information (and I'm using that word very broadly to include everything from written words to movies to photographs) was passed through a distribution hierarchy that filtered and distilled it down to the most marketable items. Delivery of information was generally through mass media -- bookstores, magazines, newspapers, television stations, etc. The prevailing metaphor was one-to-many, with information flowing from a relatively small elite of creators to the population as a whole. People also communicated directly between one-another, of course, but most of that communication was one-to-one or one-to-few via letters, meetings, and phone calls.
Even before the Internet, this old ecosystem had already started to erode. For example, computer-based desktop publishing in the 1980s made it much easier for small groups and individuals to create newsletters and magazines, giving them some of the power of mass media (although their creations still had to be printed and distributed through traditional mechanisms).
The new information ecosystem. It was the rise of the Web that really challenged the old structure. Although we're still in a transitional period, I think it's clear that the new information ecosystem will look something like the diagram below. In the new system, the filtering role of the publishers and commentators is radically eroded. Any information that anyone wants to share can be fed directly into the Internet. Tools like the personal computer make it much easier for people to create information, and mobile devices are also starting to play a minor but important role in info creation as well (for example, at the end of 2006 a cellphone video of the execution of Saddam Hussein created worldwide news and intense political debate). The net effect should be that information flows faster, and between more sources, than ever before (by the way, that's an assumption I want to test in future posts; I'm not sure it's correct).
The diagram shows why mobile devices can no longer stand alone as a separate industry. As soon as they get any data capabilities, they're embedded in the larger ecosystem. Want to add apps to a mobile device? You need to understand the trends driving PC and Internet app development. Want to tie your customers to you more closely? Make sure you know how online communities form (and why most of them fail). Want to play content on a mobile? Don't link yourself too closely to a content company that was part of the old ecosystem -- you might be pulled down by the suction when it sinks.
What's the most important part of the ecosystem?
A lot of people would tell you that the center of the ecosystem is the Internet; that the other industries are just appendages. On the other hand, many mobile enthusiasts would tell you the dominant part will soon be the mobile phone, and I'm sure Microsoft and Apple would tell you that it's the personal computer. But I think they're all wrong. The most important part of the ecosystem isn't any technology, it's the ideas themselves: the articles and music and essays and videos and memes that we use to make decisions and entertain ourselves. The Internet and the servers that hang on it like Christmas ornaments are the storage and transport mechanism for those ideas. PCs and mobile devices are capture and playback systems, and the software programs we run on those devices are the tools that we use to create and work with the ideas.
Meanwhile, the publishers, producers, editors, and critics who used to control the idea factory are struggling to find relevant roles in the new world. I think some will succeed, and many will fail.
The real mobile opportunity
So I know it'll feel irrelevant to some people, but I'm going to be writing more about subjects like web apps and communities and Hollywood, because they're all part of the same system. I'll try to label the posts that focus on the broader ecosystem, so you can skip them if you want to. But if you're working in the mobile world I think you should tune in. You need to understand the whole ecosystem or chances are you'll be left twisting slowly in the breeze by a competitor who does get it.
The real mobile opportunity of the 21st century isn't mobilizing technology, it's mobilizing ideas.
That's what this weblog is all about.
Anyone still reading?
Okay. The other day I got a bit of flak for posting a note about Hollywood's view of the Web. "Your weblog's about mobility," the comments said. "Stay on topic."
I sincerely appreciate the feedback, but it was a surprise. As far as I was concerned, I was staying on topic. But then I realized that I've never actually explained what I'm trying to accomplish in this weblog, and so of course people might confused. I'd like to fix that right now.
I started this weblog to comment on the mobile industry, but as time went on and my work at Rubicon exposed me to a wider range of tech companies, I found that the boundaries of mobile were getting harder and harder to define. I'm now convinced that you can't understand the mobile world as a separate industry, because it's deeply interconnected with three other industries that deal with information: the Internet, personal computing, and the media (including video, print publications, games, and so on).
All four industries like to think of themselves as separate. But in reality, they depend on each other heavily, and the connections are deepening all the time. In each industry, it's commonplace for people to be blind-sided by unexpected changes, or for major initiatives to fail dismally. I think that's a symptom of the growing connections. Because we can't yet see all the connections, success and failure become more a matter of luck than skill.
The idea that those industries are merging has been around for years -- I remember a colleague making that argument at Apple back in the early 1990s. But I think "merging" or "convergence" isn't the right metaphor. What's emerging is more like a tropical jungle where a rare tree is the favorite roost of a bat that's fed on by a mosquito whose larvae are eaten by a fish that secretes the cure to cancer in its skin. Everything's connected in subtle ways that we don't understand.
Call it the information ecosystem.
Some very bright people have used the term "information ecosystem" in the past to refer to the Internet or Web 2.0, but I think it encompasses all four industries.
That ecosystem is what I'm trying to map in this weblog, because that's where the opportunity is. I don't pretend to have all the connections mapped yet; nobody does. But what we can see so far suggests that we're still in the early stages of the new ecosystem. I think the big changes are still to come.
The new information ecosystem
Back in ancient times (around 1975), the old information ecosystem looked like the diagram below. Most information (and I'm using that word very broadly to include everything from written words to movies to photographs) was passed through a distribution hierarchy that filtered and distilled it down to the most marketable items. Delivery of information was generally through mass media -- bookstores, magazines, newspapers, television stations, etc. The prevailing metaphor was one-to-many, with information flowing from a relatively small elite of creators to the population as a whole. People also communicated directly between one-another, of course, but most of that communication was one-to-one or one-to-few via letters, meetings, and phone calls.
Even before the Internet, this old ecosystem had already started to erode. For example, computer-based desktop publishing in the 1980s made it much easier for small groups and individuals to create newsletters and magazines, giving them some of the power of mass media (although their creations still had to be printed and distributed through traditional mechanisms).
"Freedom of the Press is guaranteed only to those who own one." --AJ Liebling
"Let's give everybody a press." --Simultaneous thought of several million Internet users, sometime in the 1990s
The new information ecosystem. It was the rise of the Web that really challenged the old structure. Although we're still in a transitional period, I think it's clear that the new information ecosystem will look something like the diagram below. In the new system, the filtering role of the publishers and commentators is radically eroded. Any information that anyone wants to share can be fed directly into the Internet. Tools like the personal computer make it much easier for people to create information, and mobile devices are also starting to play a minor but important role in info creation as well (for example, at the end of 2006 a cellphone video of the execution of Saddam Hussein created worldwide news and intense political debate). The net effect should be that information flows faster, and between more sources, than ever before (by the way, that's an assumption I want to test in future posts; I'm not sure it's correct).
The diagram shows why mobile devices can no longer stand alone as a separate industry. As soon as they get any data capabilities, they're embedded in the larger ecosystem. Want to add apps to a mobile device? You need to understand the trends driving PC and Internet app development. Want to tie your customers to you more closely? Make sure you know how online communities form (and why most of them fail). Want to play content on a mobile? Don't link yourself too closely to a content company that was part of the old ecosystem -- you might be pulled down by the suction when it sinks.
What's the most important part of the ecosystem?
A lot of people would tell you that the center of the ecosystem is the Internet; that the other industries are just appendages. On the other hand, many mobile enthusiasts would tell you the dominant part will soon be the mobile phone, and I'm sure Microsoft and Apple would tell you that it's the personal computer. But I think they're all wrong. The most important part of the ecosystem isn't any technology, it's the ideas themselves: the articles and music and essays and videos and memes that we use to make decisions and entertain ourselves. The Internet and the servers that hang on it like Christmas ornaments are the storage and transport mechanism for those ideas. PCs and mobile devices are capture and playback systems, and the software programs we run on those devices are the tools that we use to create and work with the ideas.
Meanwhile, the publishers, producers, editors, and critics who used to control the idea factory are struggling to find relevant roles in the new world. I think some will succeed, and many will fail.
The real mobile opportunity
So I know it'll feel irrelevant to some people, but I'm going to be writing more about subjects like web apps and communities and Hollywood, because they're all part of the same system. I'll try to label the posts that focus on the broader ecosystem, so you can skip them if you want to. But if you're working in the mobile world I think you should tune in. You need to understand the whole ecosystem or chances are you'll be left twisting slowly in the breeze by a competitor who does get it.
The real mobile opportunity of the 21st century isn't mobilizing technology, it's mobilizing ideas.
That's what this weblog is all about.
Vote for the mobile post of the year
The folks who run the Carnival of the Mobilists are running an online poll to select the best mobile-related weblog post written by Carnival participants in 2006. If you're not familiar with the Carnival, it's a weekly collection of weblog articles on mobile-related topics.
Authors nominated their favorite posts, and then the Carnival folks picked the ten finalists. They are:
Casual Mobile Snacks for Everyone speculates that the intensely personal nature of mobile devices will lead to the development of very personalized types of games.
The big '07 Forecast surveyed 32 mobile gaming executives on what they expected to happen in mobile gaming in 2007. I was surprised by how little they agreed on. About the only opinion most of them shared was that they each think their own upcoming product releases will be critically important watersheds for the industry.
The Mobile Web Grows Up is an overview of mobile data news from 2006.
Nokia N91 Kills the iPod is an article claiming that the Nokia N91 music phone is much better than an iPod.
Youth Mobile Trends Summary is a mashup of four blog posts exploring the use of mobile phones by young people.
Qualcomm: An Empire Under Siege is an enormous overview of Qualcomm's status and all the legal actions the company is involved in. It's a long read, and I don't agree with all the analysis, but I think it's still a very valuable overview.
We Interrupt This Broadcast is a very enthusiastic discussion of the prospects for advertising on mobile phones.
Coltan and Your Mobile discusses the social problems created in central Africa by the mining of tantalum for use in capacitors (including the capacitors used in mobile phones). I was not aware of the tantalum situation; you can read more about it here.
The Mobile Web Phone calls for the creation of a mobile phone optimized for web browsing.
We need a new mobile platform. Sort of. is something I wrote exploring the faltering sales of mobile applications. It suggests that instead of trying to fix the mobile operating systems, we need a software layer that runs on top of all mobile devices. I nominated this article because it's an issue I feel very strongly about. I'd like to thank the Carnival folks for making it one of the finalists.
You can vote for your favorite post by clicking here. You'll see a screen that makes it look like you need to register, but that's not necessary. You do need the survey password, which is: mobilists
And even if you don't feel like voting, check out the Qualcomm post. It's very interesting.
Authors nominated their favorite posts, and then the Carnival folks picked the ten finalists. They are:
Casual Mobile Snacks for Everyone speculates that the intensely personal nature of mobile devices will lead to the development of very personalized types of games.
The big '07 Forecast surveyed 32 mobile gaming executives on what they expected to happen in mobile gaming in 2007. I was surprised by how little they agreed on. About the only opinion most of them shared was that they each think their own upcoming product releases will be critically important watersheds for the industry.
The Mobile Web Grows Up is an overview of mobile data news from 2006.
Nokia N91 Kills the iPod is an article claiming that the Nokia N91 music phone is much better than an iPod.
Youth Mobile Trends Summary is a mashup of four blog posts exploring the use of mobile phones by young people.
Qualcomm: An Empire Under Siege is an enormous overview of Qualcomm's status and all the legal actions the company is involved in. It's a long read, and I don't agree with all the analysis, but I think it's still a very valuable overview.
We Interrupt This Broadcast is a very enthusiastic discussion of the prospects for advertising on mobile phones.
Coltan and Your Mobile discusses the social problems created in central Africa by the mining of tantalum for use in capacitors (including the capacitors used in mobile phones). I was not aware of the tantalum situation; you can read more about it here.
The Mobile Web Phone calls for the creation of a mobile phone optimized for web browsing.
We need a new mobile platform. Sort of. is something I wrote exploring the faltering sales of mobile applications. It suggests that instead of trying to fix the mobile operating systems, we need a software layer that runs on top of all mobile devices. I nominated this article because it's an issue I feel very strongly about. I'd like to thank the Carnival folks for making it one of the finalists.
You can vote for your favorite post by clicking here. You'll see a screen that makes it look like you need to register, but that's not necessary. You do need the survey password, which is: mobilists
And even if you don't feel like voting, check out the Qualcomm post. It's very interesting.
iAlja Writer reports from Second Life
I don't know if it's just me, or is the Internet-based virtual world called Second Life getting a lot of attention lately? All the news and reports from this virtual world have finally caught my attention, and after reading the post My Second Life and the post Presenting in RL/SL, I have decided to see for myself what all the fuss is about.
The first thing to do was of course to download the application and create a Second Life (SL) account. And so it was that on January 31st 2007 iAlja Writer was born. Yes, that is my SL name (by the way - if you're wondering about the last name: when signing up you have to pick a last name from a list of names, so you can't just make up any name you want). After that was done, I was finally able to sign in and take a first look around. At first I didn't get very lucky as an update was scheduled just around my first day in Second Life, so I was soon unable to log in. Argh!
But it takes more than a maintenance outage to stop a curious educator from exploring new worlds. When Second Life was back online, iAlja Writer finally took her first steps in her Second Life. Walking around is pretty easy (just use the arrow keys) and if you want a better view of the world, you can also fly and view it from air.
Then I completed the challenge of setting up the appearance of my avatar. This can be done with the help of a quite simple and powerful editor (a more complex version of the Mii editor on the Wii).
You also have many other tools that can be used to teleport between places, chat, edit you profile, join groups, search etc. - and yes, figuring all that out takes some time, but after an hour or two I was able to master basic tools, menus, and other UI elements. The UI is quite basic, but can be learned quite fast, and you also get an essential SL tutorial right as you step into the world. But although the basic functions are quite simple to learn, I must say that the key word for my first days in SL was confusing. I don't really know why, but I really felt confused and disoriented. I felt there was still so much of basic tools to find and learn, when in fact I already knew how to use the basic tools of SL.
Anyhow, the thing I was of course most interested in was meeting people (fellow educators trying to figure out SL if possible :) ). And to meet the right kind of people you of course have to go to the right kind of places, like the EduNation island, Campus: Second Life, Sloodleville (a place where people are trying to bring Moodle to Second Life) and many more. For this reason I did a little search on the web and among SL places, events and groups, and was soon able to find places where educators meet and where links to other edu spaces can be found. The only thing that bothered me was that I didn't really got to meet a lot of people in the first days, as the edu places were mostly empty - I guess I'm in the wrong time zone :( But then I finally came across some interesting people and had some interesting conversations. I was really pleased to see that many people were willing to talk, answer my stupid questions (like: Who controls the weather in this place?) and share their experience and knowledge of SL (or other areas of 1st life :) ). Talking to people in SL is basically like using IRC, but much much more fun because you can in a way see other people and to some extent communicate non-verbally. I was quite impressed by the way SL avatars (characters) behave - they really seem alive. When you stand still they start looking at their watch (even if you don't have one) or look around the place or just stare at their feet (that's just what I'd do if I had to stand still in one spot!). You can also make your avatar do different gestures. Also, I find the pose that avatars assume when they are typing really great. It's a great way to show that a person is writing something! Voice chat can also be used in SL, but as I don't have a microphone for my Mac Mini I was yet unable to test it, but I think it would add a lot fun and realism to conversations. So, SL Voice Chat is definitely on my to-do list!
Another thing that impressed me was the variety of locations, places in Second Life. You have everything from clubs, shops and even museums. You can even race with Go-Karts, take a swim in WaterWarks or go to a party and dance a bit (check out this list of 5 free fun things in SL). From the places I visited I especially enjoyed the International Spaceflight Museum, which can also be a great place for learning.
So, is all this any good for education? I think SL is a great learning tool for programming or computer science students as you can build object and add various scripts to them, so it's a fun tool to practice or learn about 3D modeling and programming. I am a bit afraid that our (business and management) students would find the world a bit too confusing, though it could be a great way to practice business skills as you can trade various objects or land in Second Life (using Linden dollars). For this reason I think that you could have different modes in SL; for example: one very basic for people just interesting in going to places, meeting people and maybe buying stuff; then a business mode that would highly focus on the business aspects of SL; and finally an advanced mode for programmers and 3D designers. Basically, I think that SL and other virtual worlds have educational potential, but they should become even more intuitive and user friendly. A lot of people I met on help an information islands were feeling very confused by this new world and that can be a serious barrier for a wider adoption of virtual worlds.
//slightly off-topic
Although, walking around SL did give me an interesting idea - what if future operating systems would adopt the characteristics of virtual worlds? Try to imagine - we already use the metaphor of desktops as the place where application are run, so why couldn't we have a 3D office instead? A 3D office in which you can have pictures on your walls, of course choose wall colors or wallpapers, and have different office applications around the office - either on the desk or sorted on shelves. And when not working you could go to your leisure room with an audio and video system, and shelves of music/videos. Basically, each user could customize his/her own house and different rooms by dragging objects around the place, also between rooms (if it sounds familiar - something similar will be done with Spaces in the next version of Mac OS X Leopard (and probably 5 years later as Places in the new Windows version that Microsoft will claim as a new and innovative feature)). You could of course also have rooms for kids in which parents could control some of the content and you could invite your friends to your house and show him/her how you just redecorated your office or you work with that document or go to a public space to see a movie, hear some new music, talk with friends or strangers. Everything would of course be connected to the internet and you could for example watch YouTube videos in your video room. I think that might be possible in the future when better graphics, higher Internet speeds and computer power will be available - that or the alternative in which our houses will have screens in every room. But as the trend is moving to mobile technologies I think it'd be much easier to make the OS a 3D environment that you can carry around with you and work in your office in the fresh air while sitting in a park. We'll see.
//back to the topic
My point (my opinion) is, that we're still not at the point where SL can be as widely adopted as for example instant messaging. SL is more demanding, takes more time to start using, but in the end is quite more fun - but for the average user the road to fun is still too bumpy to be enjoyable (imho). I really can't make up my mind on the future of SL or other virtual worlds. As I said - it has potential, but so far it only appeals to a quite limited number of users. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, I still think it's a valuable experience for every educator to go and check it out and experience it first hand - you don't really know what it is all about until you are actually in there. And if you happen to meet iAlja Writer somewhere along the journey don't forget to stop and say hello ;) Also, suggestions of interesting activities and places iAlja Writer should in your opinion visit are more then welcome, so feel free to leave a comment or write me an e-mail :)
The first thing to do was of course to download the application and create a Second Life (SL) account. And so it was that on January 31st 2007 iAlja Writer was born. Yes, that is my SL name (by the way - if you're wondering about the last name: when signing up you have to pick a last name from a list of names, so you can't just make up any name you want). After that was done, I was finally able to sign in and take a first look around. At first I didn't get very lucky as an update was scheduled just around my first day in Second Life, so I was soon unable to log in. Argh!
But it takes more than a maintenance outage to stop a curious educator from exploring new worlds. When Second Life was back online, iAlja Writer finally took her first steps in her Second Life. Walking around is pretty easy (just use the arrow keys) and if you want a better view of the world, you can also fly and view it from air.
That's me flying over EduNation island:
Then I completed the challenge of setting up the appearance of my avatar. This can be done with the help of a quite simple and powerful editor (a more complex version of the Mii editor on the Wii).Editing a playful and a daily appearance in SL:
You also have many other tools that can be used to teleport between places, chat, edit you profile, join groups, search etc. - and yes, figuring all that out takes some time, but after an hour or two I was able to master basic tools, menus, and other UI elements. The UI is quite basic, but can be learned quite fast, and you also get an essential SL tutorial right as you step into the world. But although the basic functions are quite simple to learn, I must say that the key word for my first days in SL was confusing. I don't really know why, but I really felt confused and disoriented. I felt there was still so much of basic tools to find and learn, when in fact I already knew how to use the basic tools of SL.iAlja wondering Where am I? What am I doing here?:
Anyhow, the thing I was of course most interested in was meeting people (fellow educators trying to figure out SL if possible :) ). And to meet the right kind of people you of course have to go to the right kind of places, like the EduNation island, Campus: Second Life, Sloodleville (a place where people are trying to bring Moodle to Second Life) and many more. For this reason I did a little search on the web and among SL places, events and groups, and was soon able to find places where educators meet and where links to other edu spaces can be found. The only thing that bothered me was that I didn't really got to meet a lot of people in the first days, as the edu places were mostly empty - I guess I'm in the wrong time zone :( But then I finally came across some interesting people and had some interesting conversations. I was really pleased to see that many people were willing to talk, answer my stupid questions (like: Who controls the weather in this place?) and share their experience and knowledge of SL (or other areas of 1st life :) ). Talking to people in SL is basically like using IRC, but much much more fun because you can in a way see other people and to some extent communicate non-verbally. I was quite impressed by the way SL avatars (characters) behave - they really seem alive. When you stand still they start looking at their watch (even if you don't have one) or look around the place or just stare at their feet (that's just what I'd do if I had to stand still in one spot!). You can also make your avatar do different gestures. Also, I find the pose that avatars assume when they are typing really great. It's a great way to show that a person is writing something! Voice chat can also be used in SL, but as I don't have a microphone for my Mac Mini I was yet unable to test it, but I think it would add a lot fun and realism to conversations. So, SL Voice Chat is definitely on my to-do list!Another thing that impressed me was the variety of locations, places in Second Life. You have everything from clubs, shops and even museums. You can even race with Go-Karts, take a swim in WaterWarks or go to a party and dance a bit (check out this list of 5 free fun things in SL). From the places I visited I especially enjoyed the International Spaceflight Museum, which can also be a great place for learning.
At the International Spaceflight Museum:
So, is all this any good for education? I think SL is a great learning tool for programming or computer science students as you can build object and add various scripts to them, so it's a fun tool to practice or learn about 3D modeling and programming. I am a bit afraid that our (business and management) students would find the world a bit too confusing, though it could be a great way to practice business skills as you can trade various objects or land in Second Life (using Linden dollars). For this reason I think that you could have different modes in SL; for example: one very basic for people just interesting in going to places, meeting people and maybe buying stuff; then a business mode that would highly focus on the business aspects of SL; and finally an advanced mode for programmers and 3D designers. Basically, I think that SL and other virtual worlds have educational potential, but they should become even more intuitive and user friendly. A lot of people I met on help an information islands were feeling very confused by this new world and that can be a serious barrier for a wider adoption of virtual worlds.//slightly off-topic
Although, walking around SL did give me an interesting idea - what if future operating systems would adopt the characteristics of virtual worlds? Try to imagine - we already use the metaphor of desktops as the place where application are run, so why couldn't we have a 3D office instead? A 3D office in which you can have pictures on your walls, of course choose wall colors or wallpapers, and have different office applications around the office - either on the desk or sorted on shelves. And when not working you could go to your leisure room with an audio and video system, and shelves of music/videos. Basically, each user could customize his/her own house and different rooms by dragging objects around the place, also between rooms (if it sounds familiar - something similar will be done with Spaces in the next version of Mac OS X Leopard (and probably 5 years later as Places in the new Windows version that Microsoft will claim as a new and innovative feature)). You could of course also have rooms for kids in which parents could control some of the content and you could invite your friends to your house and show him/her how you just redecorated your office or you work with that document or go to a public space to see a movie, hear some new music, talk with friends or strangers. Everything would of course be connected to the internet and you could for example watch YouTube videos in your video room. I think that might be possible in the future when better graphics, higher Internet speeds and computer power will be available - that or the alternative in which our houses will have screens in every room. But as the trend is moving to mobile technologies I think it'd be much easier to make the OS a 3D environment that you can carry around with you and work in your office in the fresh air while sitting in a park. We'll see.
//back to the topic
My point (my opinion) is, that we're still not at the point where SL can be as widely adopted as for example instant messaging. SL is more demanding, takes more time to start using, but in the end is quite more fun - but for the average user the road to fun is still too bumpy to be enjoyable (imho). I really can't make up my mind on the future of SL or other virtual worlds. As I said - it has potential, but so far it only appeals to a quite limited number of users. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, I still think it's a valuable experience for every educator to go and check it out and experience it first hand - you don't really know what it is all about until you are actually in there. And if you happen to meet iAlja Writer somewhere along the journey don't forget to stop and say hello ;) Also, suggestions of interesting activities and places iAlja Writer should in your opinion visit are more then welcome, so feel free to leave a comment or write me an e-mail :)
Even in Japan, there's no one "killer" mobile data application
As reported by What Japan Thinks, a recent survey of 1,000 Japanese mobile phone users asked what features would be important when they upgrade to their next phone. The results matched what we've seen in the US and Europe -- there's no single feature that all users want. In fact, there isn't even a data feature that a majority of users want.
This chart shows the most important findings:
When upgrading your mobile, which features are important? (Multiple answers allowed.)
I left out some generic features like "memory card." Other than those, no feature got a thumbs-up from more than about 20% of the users, which is very similar to the sort of results we've seen among mobile users in the US and Europe.
I did think it was interesting that mobile TV got a pretty good score, as did the e-wallet features that some Japanese operators have been pushing. E-wallet functionality has been a gleam in the eye for mobile companies for at least ten years; it's nice to see someone implementing it.
It appears that Japan, like the US and Europe, has a segmented mobile data market in which different users want different, conflicting features. The best way for a manufacturer to tackle that is with a line of products targeting different user segments, rather than one all-consuming super smartphone.
Although mobile feature attitudes in Japan aren't as different as many people might expect, attitudes toward mobile brands are enormously different. That's because Japanese mobile phone companies don't focus on the export market, and overseas brands don't do a good job of designing for the Japanese mobile operators. Sharp is by far the most desired mobile brand in Japan, for good reasons because it makes really nice mobile hardware. The top brands in the US and Europe -- Nokia and Motorola -- are also-rans in Japan.
What brand of mobile handset do you desire most? (Only one answer allowed.)
This chart shows the most important findings:
When upgrading your mobile, which features are important? (Multiple answers allowed.)
I left out some generic features like "memory card." Other than those, no feature got a thumbs-up from more than about 20% of the users, which is very similar to the sort of results we've seen among mobile users in the US and Europe.
I did think it was interesting that mobile TV got a pretty good score, as did the e-wallet features that some Japanese operators have been pushing. E-wallet functionality has been a gleam in the eye for mobile companies for at least ten years; it's nice to see someone implementing it.
It appears that Japan, like the US and Europe, has a segmented mobile data market in which different users want different, conflicting features. The best way for a manufacturer to tackle that is with a line of products targeting different user segments, rather than one all-consuming super smartphone.
Although mobile feature attitudes in Japan aren't as different as many people might expect, attitudes toward mobile brands are enormously different. That's because Japanese mobile phone companies don't focus on the export market, and overseas brands don't do a good job of designing for the Japanese mobile operators. Sharp is by far the most desired mobile brand in Japan, for good reasons because it makes really nice mobile hardware. The top brands in the US and Europe -- Nokia and Motorola -- are also-rans in Japan.
What brand of mobile handset do you desire most? (Only one answer allowed.)
The operators' "secret" plan to destroy Google. Yeah, right.
By now you've probably seen the reports that six European mobile operators plus AT&T are planning "secret" talks to set up a mobile search engine to rival Google. The Telegraph reported that the secret seven might team up with an existing search engine, or might set up their own shared search engine and advertising sales team.
The idea is for the operators to capture the majority of advertising revenue from mobile web search.
It's possible that the report is false, but the Telegraph had some quotes and details that sound credible. (Besides, if it's not true then there would be nothing for people like me to posture abut online.)
As you'd expect, the report is already attracting a lot of commentary online. I won't bother repeating what everyone else is saying, but I'd like to make a few quick observations:
1. Have any of these high-profile operator consortia ever been successful? It's a sincere question, not rhetorical. I can't think of any of them that lived up to their hype. But maybe I missed one. Please post a comment if I did.
2. I don't think the threat to create their own search engine is credible. The investment in infrastructure is too large at this point. So the real play would be to partner with one of the current search companies and squeeze money out of it. Let's see, who's desperate for search share and has a ton of cash? Hello, Redmond.
3. Who starts secret negotiations by leaking the fact that they're being held? Only someone who's inept, or is posturing to create leverage in their discussions with Google.
4. All of this presupposes that the operators can continue to maintain closed gardens, preventing users from going to whichever search engine they like. That worked soooo well for AOL and MSN, didn't it?
5. Why can't these guys negotiate with Google the traditional way, by threatening to sue them?
6. I hope eventually someone will realize that unless we figure out how to make mobile browsing a lot more useful and compelling, there isn't going to be any pile of riches to divide from mobile search.
The idea is for the operators to capture the majority of advertising revenue from mobile web search.
It's possible that the report is false, but the Telegraph had some quotes and details that sound credible. (Besides, if it's not true then there would be nothing for people like me to posture abut online.)
As you'd expect, the report is already attracting a lot of commentary online. I won't bother repeating what everyone else is saying, but I'd like to make a few quick observations:
1. Have any of these high-profile operator consortia ever been successful? It's a sincere question, not rhetorical. I can't think of any of them that lived up to their hype. But maybe I missed one. Please post a comment if I did.
2. I don't think the threat to create their own search engine is credible. The investment in infrastructure is too large at this point. So the real play would be to partner with one of the current search companies and squeeze money out of it. Let's see, who's desperate for search share and has a ton of cash? Hello, Redmond.
3. Who starts secret negotiations by leaking the fact that they're being held? Only someone who's inept, or is posturing to create leverage in their discussions with Google.
4. All of this presupposes that the operators can continue to maintain closed gardens, preventing users from going to whichever search engine they like. That worked soooo well for AOL and MSN, didn't it?
5. Why can't these guys negotiate with Google the traditional way, by threatening to sue them?
6. I hope eventually someone will realize that unless we figure out how to make mobile browsing a lot more useful and compelling, there isn't going to be any pile of riches to divide from mobile search.
Web 2.0 in less than 5 minutes
Yesterday I came across an amazing video presentation of the concept of Web 2.0 created by Michael Wesch. It's a short and concise presentation of some important concepts and ideas about Web 2.0 (or the Read/Write Web). I think this video can be a great starting point for a discussion or reflection on how modern technologies are affecting many important areas of our lives and why is Internet such a big thing nowadays. Enjoy watching it!
GSM Radio Test Measurements - Non-Dominance
GSM Radio Test Measurements - Non-Dominance Screen Image 1Readers and cell site analysis students will recall the thread at http://trewmte.blogspot.com/2007/01/gsm-radio-test-measurements.html regarding GSM Radio Test Measurements. In that thread the discussion related to possible anomalies and interpretation regarding radio test measurements. In this thread I want to highlight another radio
My Wii experience
Wiiii, a Wii has finally made it to our living room! And after a few days of Wii Sports I can share my first impressions and reflections on how the Wii can be used in education. I know a lot has already been written, so for those of you who might not yet know what is a Wii I suggest reading Nintendo Wii: first impressions - a great post that in my opinion nicely describes what a Wii is and how you can play with it. Also, you might want to read A Wii post on educational gaming, just to warm up ;-)Ok, let me now describe my personal Wii experience. The first word that came to my mind after using Wii was: intuitive! The new motion-sensitive controllers are in my opinion amazing and playing the games feels so natural. You just use the controller as if it was a tennis racket or a baseball bat and that's it. Before I got the Wii, I was a bit afraid that playing Wii Sports would soon get boring, but it just doesn't. It feels like a real game and it is a totally engaging and addictive game (also, the muscle ache the day after was 100% real - I was never really ware of all the upper-body muscles you can train with playing those sports before I tried Wii Sports :-/).
Apart from providing great physical exercise (by the way - you can quite easily loose some wight with the Wii - don't take my word for it, read the Wii Sports Experiment, Results!), the Wii can also connect to the Internet and can be used to socialize with your Wii friends. You can in fact use a Wii version of the Opera browser, check out the Wii news and weather channel, or use the Message Board to send and receive messages and keep track of your progress. The really fun thing is that each Wii player can build his/her own Mii - a virtual character that can be used in games or that you can let travel to your friends' Wiis (look at the picture below - it's my Mii!). Isn't that cute? ;-) But also, it's a fun way to interact with your friends - you can in fact even save your Mii to your own Wii Mote (the Wii controller) and when you visit a friend, you can transfer your Mii to his/her Wii :-)
The Miis are sure a cute feature, but as an Internet addict I must say that I enjoy the web browser much more. The Wii browser is still a Trial version and I think there is still a lot of room for improvement (like encoding settings - right now the browser can't display certain specific characters of my language), but at a first glance it looks ok. You can zoom in or out on web pages, which is really useful because of the low resolution of TV screens. The browser has Flash support, and there are already web sites with flash games that can be easily played on the Wii (Google Wii flash games). You can also watch YouTube or Google Videos with no problems. Browsing with the Wii Mote is over all very intuitive and easy to learn. When you need to type a web address or fill out a form you use an on-screen keyboard - you can't type as fast as on a real keyboard, but you get some help in the form of word suggestions and I really like the fact that it provides a subtle tactile feedback (the remote vibrates slightly when you move over a letter).Now a few weak points I noticed so far. Firstly, a quite annoying problem with the keyboard interface: it isn't good for editing fields with existing text - let's say a wiki page or blog post - because it doesn't show the content of the field, but just lets you type in new words. I hope that gets solved in future versions. And on the subject of the Wii Opera browser: I came across the post Using the Wii Opera browser for educational purposes today and I was really surprised to see that kids find playing flash games with the Wii Mote so engaging. Surely, flash games are only mini educational games (for more on the subject read Marc Prensky's article In Educational Games, Complexity Matters), but I really think that the physical involvement that the Wii provides is an engaging form of not just playing games but also learning. Here I must point out that the Wii is a new player in the gaming industry and still has room for improvement and even more room for new games. I think that in a few years we could be seeing really interesting games that will know how to fully use the potential of Wii's specific controllers and that will also provide great, engaging, and meaningful learning experiences.
Moving on - why is there now RSS reader on the Wii? It has a great news channel, a browser, so why didn't they include an RSS reader? I sure hope they'll be adding it soon - either as part of the browser or as a separate channel.And at last - the interface design is quite simple, but I think it could be made even more simple (bear in mind that I am a Mac user and have quite high standards as far as the UI simplicity is concerned ;-) ). A more annoying thing is that switching between Wii applications is a bit slow. I know it's a console, but from my perspective you have to wait a bit too much just to switch from the weather channel to the news channel for example. Waiting for a dozen of seconds is not such a problem when you're waiting for a game that you'll be playing for hours, but when you have to wait just to see the weather or check the mail... it is annoying. So I hope they'll improve that somehow in the future as well.
So - what's my final verdict? I am totally impressed by the Wii - it's fun and engaging, and I see a lot of potential in it, but for serious educational use I think we'll have to wait for a year or two to get better games and to improve some of the features and of course add new ones. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to my new gym - my living room and Wii Sports' fitness (I've got to get my fitness age down! I don't even want to tell you the results I got yesterday! It's really time for us geeks to get a move ;-) )
Master Password Unlock
Master Password UnlockI have received requests for copies of the 2006 supplement edition of Mobile Telephone Evidence (MTE) Newsletter Vol4-MTE-03-2006 supp: 002 regarding Master Password Unlock for Nokia mobile telephones.http://www.filebucket.net/files/1597_knksh/Handset%20Password%20Unlock.rar
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