Hello folks who for some reason read this blog. Welcome to the last blog I intend to post here! Haha! I hope you've enjoyed the little joy ride so far. Here's hoping the last one isn't crappy.
Today we had Wayne MacPhail come in to speak to us on... uhh... web 2.0? I think. I'm not entirely sure. Personally, I think Web 2.0 is a silly term. Based on what Wayne told us, I know what is considered for Web 2.0, but why call it that? It seems... well, stupid. Can't we just call it the web like we always have? ( Link to Wikipedia on Web 2.0 )
Well, anyway, he talked to us about Web 2.0, telling us that it encourages community and collaboration, shared content creation (Isn't this the same as collaboration?), and that Web 2.0 websites focus on a single task and have clean, clear interfaces. Like Facebook... Ugh... I dislike Facebook. Something about it, and other social networking sites, just don't sit well with me. ( Link to Facebook )
He then got into talking about the key concepts of Web 2.0, starting with tagging. This is where you attach keywords to images, videos, and documents to allow for more relevant searching. For example, on YouTube you could have a video of someone's puppy "fighting" a toy robot and tag it with "puppy", and could find other videos tagged with "puppy" as well to get a collective library of videos on YouTube that should have puppies in them! ( Link to YouTube video of a puppy "fighting" a toy robot )
At this point, I sorta lost it. I managed to tune in long enough to learn about RSS feeds, but honestly that was it. I got distracted after that. Anyway, I never really bothered looking up about RSS feeds prior, largely because all I knew about them was that they kept people off my website. While this is ok to an extent, I want people on my actual site! I don't want them finding out something new without going to the actual site. It didn't seem like something I'd want to set-up. I still don't think that way. It basically just gives them a feed to a special program that says "This website updated today with this" followed by whatever the update was. That's all find and dandy, but my website runs an ad to generate money to keep it going. An RSS feed would be pointless for me, I feel. ( Link to Wikipedia on RSS )
But who knows? Maybe I'm looking at it wrong.
AND THAT'S IT! Now get lost!
Unless you have a dollar, then I welcome you with open arms. :D
- Skye
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Term 2 - Blog 2
For the second guest speaker, we actually had two speakers in one day. It started with a visit to the ROM where we spoke with the Senior Director of New Media for the ROM. I currently do not remember his name.
He spoke with us on what he did at the ROM, how the ROM operates (It kinda felt like he was trying to sell something to us, he kept pushing how the ROM needs donations... I didn't appreciate that), then moved on to discuss some of the things the ROM has now. We were in a room designed for digital learning during this, so this was what we were shown; How the ROM is trying to use digital learning to teach history. ( Link )
We were then given the chance to go around the ROM a bit, though not much. We were shown the dinosaur exhibit, where they were using what appeared to be touch screen kiosks. Given how responsive they were, I don't think they were touch screen at all, but were actually GesturTek technology. We were shown one thing during the tour that was, indeed, from GesturTek, so it wouldn't surprise me. ( Link )
Oh, did I mention the mummified skeleton we saw? No? It was awesome! I hope I don't get cursed or anything. :D
After the show of the dinosaur exhibit, it was pretty much over, so we all went for lunch then headed to our next destination: The "office" of one Steve Mann. The walk was kinda annoying and we barely made it on time, though we all have to thank Heather for getting there at all! Her GPS device saved the day! ( Link )
So anyway, we met with the "world's first cyborg", and somehow I knew it would be an entertaining experience. It was indeed. I can somewhat see why they call him the a "cyborg", given his work into mediated reality and how he likes to wear a camera on his head. To be honest, it felt a bit as if he wore it all on purpose for the sake of a role and he didn't wear it all day long. But anyway, Steve Mann is the writer of a couple of books which talk about the subject of mediated reality, a concept which does interest me somewhat. ( Link ) ( Link )
Steve introduced us to what I believe is his latest invention, the hydraulophone! What is it, you ask? Why, it's a flute that uses water instead of air! It was actually pretty cool, and a few people got soaked from him playing it for us. I'm glad I didn't. Anyway, the hydraulaphone is designed as landscape architecture for public parks, museums and landmarks. It's far too expensive for the average human to purchase, however. The idea is you cover holes, which are pumping water out, to create noise. Some variations can be used almost like a piano, and with practice you can do a lot of cool music with it. ( Link )
That's all for now.
He spoke with us on what he did at the ROM, how the ROM operates (It kinda felt like he was trying to sell something to us, he kept pushing how the ROM needs donations... I didn't appreciate that), then moved on to discuss some of the things the ROM has now. We were in a room designed for digital learning during this, so this was what we were shown; How the ROM is trying to use digital learning to teach history. ( Link )
We were then given the chance to go around the ROM a bit, though not much. We were shown the dinosaur exhibit, where they were using what appeared to be touch screen kiosks. Given how responsive they were, I don't think they were touch screen at all, but were actually GesturTek technology. We were shown one thing during the tour that was, indeed, from GesturTek, so it wouldn't surprise me. ( Link )
Oh, did I mention the mummified skeleton we saw? No? It was awesome! I hope I don't get cursed or anything. :D
After the show of the dinosaur exhibit, it was pretty much over, so we all went for lunch then headed to our next destination: The "office" of one Steve Mann. The walk was kinda annoying and we barely made it on time, though we all have to thank Heather for getting there at all! Her GPS device saved the day! ( Link )
So anyway, we met with the "world's first cyborg", and somehow I knew it would be an entertaining experience. It was indeed. I can somewhat see why they call him the a "cyborg", given his work into mediated reality and how he likes to wear a camera on his head. To be honest, it felt a bit as if he wore it all on purpose for the sake of a role and he didn't wear it all day long. But anyway, Steve Mann is the writer of a couple of books which talk about the subject of mediated reality, a concept which does interest me somewhat. ( Link ) ( Link )
Steve introduced us to what I believe is his latest invention, the hydraulophone! What is it, you ask? Why, it's a flute that uses water instead of air! It was actually pretty cool, and a few people got soaked from him playing it for us. I'm glad I didn't. Anyway, the hydraulaphone is designed as landscape architecture for public parks, museums and landmarks. It's far too expensive for the average human to purchase, however. The idea is you cover holes, which are pumping water out, to create noise. Some variations can be used almost like a piano, and with practice you can do a lot of cool music with it. ( Link )
That's all for now.
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