Lesley Anderson

Aggregation, syndication and the social engine

Explain how the Elgg social engine works on a Web site where it is installed?
Is this the type of application you want on your Web server in the workplace?

Elgg is built on LAMP[i] it is open source software, released under the GPL[ii].  Elgg has its own system of plug-ins and also supports RSS, OpenID, FOAF and XML-RPC for integration with most blogging sites.

Elgg provides each user with their own blog, file repository, online profile and RSS reader and their content can be tagged with keywords - connecting them to users with similar interests and giving the ability to create their own PLN(Personal Learning Network).  It is different to other blog facilities or commercial Social Networking sites such as Facebook in the amount of control users are given over who can access the content they publish. Each individual profile item, blog post or uploaded file can be assigned its own access restriction, ranging from being fully public to only readable by a selected user or group of users.

New Elgg users begin by creating an identity which says who they are and what they are interested in. Published items can be tagged and the software uses these tags to connect other users with similar interests. Read the rest of this entry »

Aggregation, syndication and the social engine

How do you see services such as those provided at the GoToWeb20.net 
site as changing the way that YOU and your future workgroups operate?

Accessing GoToWeb20.net - I found an interesting experience. I was really unsure of the purpose of the site as there is not much explanation about it.

This is the page that I was taken to when I used the link.

From this page - clicking on a link such as Mindmap, took me to a page that listed mindmapping websites, sites that offered mindmapping tools - either for free or cmmercially available. 
Searching did much the same thing - I searched for an interest of mine - scrapbooking -  and was presented with a page of sites about scrapbooking. Read the rest of this entry »

Aggregation, syndication and the social engine

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking website.
What does this mean and what are the advantages for workgroups?
Discuss how del.icio.us uses the term ‘tag’ in a different context to what Web publishers would be familiar.

With billions of web-pages, it makes sense that we are able to pull out the best or most useful pages we require, with relative ease. We could bookmark into the browser of our computer but then the links are tied only to one computer - when we switch computers we don’t have access to our bookmarked sites. 

Social bookmarking sites - such as delicious have changed this. 

Delicious doesn’t use a browser but uses a website instead. A user signs up for a free account and adds a couple of buttons to the browser - a delicious symbol and a tag symbol.

The delicious symbol - is a link to www.delicious.com which takes the user to the main page of the site showing a list of the newest bookmarks available from users.

The tag symbol - is the button a user presses if they want to add a new bookmark to the website. Read the rest of this entry »

Aggregation, syndication and the social engine

What is RSS and explain what aggregation and syndication are  and how they have changed the nature of the Web. How do you subscribe to an RSS feed?

RSS - Really Simple Syndication has changed the way people gather and use information on the Web. For the subscriber it is a tool useful for saving or retaining updated information on websites frequently visited or which are their favourite. For the web publisher or website owner it is an easy and efficient way to distribute website headlines, update notices, and content to a wide number of people.

In order to set up these connections or feeds a user requires an RSS reader or aggregator.  These may be either web based (Google Reader) or desk-top based (MS Outlook 2007) and it is these readers that place all the information in one place for easy retrieval and interaction by the user - aggregation.

The user subscribes to a feed by entering into the reader the feed’s URL or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser to begin the subscription process. The RSS reader checks the user’s subscribed feeds regularly for new work, downloads any updates that it finds, and provides a user interface to easily monitor, manage and read the feeds Read the rest of this entry »

Data portability, FOAF and the Semantic Web

1.  Begin with the YouTube video at http://www.foaf-project.org/community

I found this video an interesting and novel way to get an IT based message across to an audience.  It does it though - reminding  the viewer  that for each social networking site you sign up to, you have to fill in the same data or information about yourself over and over again and how much easier life would be if you could just “get your date out” once.  One size to fit all, saving time and energy and letting you get on with the social side of social networking.

2. Like a chain letter, our data seems to move within and between
tools like Facebook and Twitter. Is this a good thing?

People’s web presence forms part of their identity so they should have the right to move their information wherever, whenever they wish.  It is understandable that a business - once you sign up with it - is going to do everything in its power to keep you tied to them. They may use the term ’service’ but ultimately they are businesses and like all other businesses need to make a profit to stay in business.  The number of people they have within their network has to be the clincher for the advertising attached to sites that ultimately makes them money.

Giving users flexibility to move, if they want to, from one network to another and take their data with them, could possibly be what spurs network creators to do better things with their sites and software - so that people won’t want to leave. In that way there are benefits to all parties. Sites keep their numbers and users keep their data and options to use it wherever they like.

I have to admit, I am over filling in the same information repetitively in order to access sites that offer social networking software and facilities but that is more to do with laziness than retention of my own identity or data. Read the rest of this entry »

The avalanche of applications self-interview

Try an interview with yourself  to extract your own thoughts on the topic.
Devise three (3) questions that interest you at this stage and reveal what is on your mind to yourself.
Comment on the self-interview experience in your blog.

Questions:

(2). Am I able to use some of the applications I have looked at in the classroom?
Many of the tools we have used for this course, are unavailable for use in the classroom as the age of  my students isn’t within the range required. I particularly like the look of some of the applications for classroom use.  Skype, I think, might be particularly beneficial.  I see it as having uses in the school - to connect students working collaboratively across grades, schools and outside areas as well as being beneficial for communication for administrators across schools. In fact I think our group of schools are aiming to do that during 2010 when our network is upgraded. Read the rest of this entry »

The 30-minute walk

Take a break and go a walk for 15-30 minutes.
Come back to the computer and begin writing a short narrative on the experience.

I walk often through the bushland area close to our home. My walks change with the mood of the bush itself and these are often linked to the weather.  On quiet days the bushland can be a place of solitude and reflection with any movement being quite startling. When the weather is wilder the bush seems to come alive with the sights and sounds of movement from all directions - a stark contrast.

From the moment my walk began, it was a busy one with many encounters along the way.  Like the distinctive smell that was lingering in the first few steps of my walk into the bush. There has been a lot of rain over the last few weeks with the latest shower about an hour before my walk. It gave the bushland a familiar, distinctive smell, something like a fresh mix of eucalyptus and rich earth. A favourite smell that is similar throughout the bushland I have walked in. Read the rest of this entry »

New devices, aged care and people with disabilities

Do a WebQuest research exercise on how features such as voice commands, large letters etc
provide access to others or how smart devices connected via bluetooth or WiFi to the Internet
improve the nature of caring or improve the lifestyle for those with disabilities or in need of aged care.

Many innovations and inventions in technology have been originally devised or developed as assistive technology - that is, technology designed to aid accessibility for users who are disabled, and then gone on to be integrated into day-to-day technology  to be available and beneficial to all users. For able bodied users, the technology improvements make life somewhat easier - for disabled users they may well make seemingly impossible tasks become a reality.
By changing and broadening the methods available for people to interact with it, assistive technology promotes personal independence by enabling people to perform tasks that they perhaps could not previously have accomplished. Read the rest of this entry »

Smart screen interfaces - Case Study

Discuss a situation where that device improves the display or interaction over
any alternative device. Use examples to support your argument.

Touchscreens enable users to interact directly with a display, rather than indirectly via mouse, touchpad or other intermediary input device. They are important in personal digital technology, such as personal digital assistants (PDA), satellite navigation systems, video games, MP3 players and mobile phone with recent steps forward enabling the creation of a compact, uncluttered and truly mobile environment.

The iPod iTouch has a place in this environment. Minimal external controls and reliance on  intuitive touchscreen technology for navigation and application control mean huge changes in personal interaction and experience with technology. Read the rest of this entry »

Smart screen interfaces - Case Study

Touch screen mobile devices for display and interaction are a growth area.
As a case study, summarise how the interface works from your investigations.

Touchscreen displays, as their name suggests, are responsive to touch and capable of sensing the presence and location of any touch within their display areas. These displays can sense passive objects such as a stylus or active objects such as fingers or hands. There are different types of technology used in touchscreens but the most common types are resistive and capacitive.

Resistive touchscreens have two flexible sheets coated with resistive
material and separated by an air gap or microdots. When contact is made to the surface of the touchscreen, the two sheets are pressed together and a precise location is registered for the touch occurring on the display. Resistive touchscreens are described as “passive” technology as they sense input from contact with nearly any object.

Capacitive touchscreens are glass with a thin, transparent metallic coating. They have a built-in electrode pattern charging the screen. When the display is touched, a current drawn to the finger creates a voltage drop. The exact location of the voltage drop/touch is picked up by a controller and transmitted to a computer. Capacitive touch screens are commonly found in interactive building directories and more recently in Apple’s iTouch technology.