The good:
Lots of interesting things to explore out there on the WWW, and this learning program gave me an overview and broader perspective than I was getting from weekly perusals of the Green Guide.
I can see a use for Wikis as an aid to communication, and many of the other online tools are useful for folks who move from one machine to another. Flickr is a handy tool for those wishing to share photos, we used to have to find a server to store them and then hand the pathway out as if it were the Key to the Kingdom, but Flickr is a more civilized option and much easier to drive.
I can see a use for the Social Networking sites, but having lost hours and hours of incredibly enjoyable time to the delights of Live Journal I, personally, am not ready to be seduced again. At this point in my life 'spare' time is at a premium and I often wonder how I found the time to blog on a daily basis and to read the blogs of others with such dedication. Ergo I wish all those networkers well because there is a lot of fun to be had connecting with folks from far, far away whose paths you would simply never cross without the world wide web.
The bad:
I am finishing this course vaguely on time because I have considerable tech savvy and fast typing skills. Many of those around me are not so fortunate and have become progressively more frustrated with the difficulties of trying something new and hitting a pothole, the slow nature of the internet here, the inability of the podcasts to load and play with any efficiency, the lack of assistance and the laughable notion that this could actually be done in 15 minutes a day.
Curiously as if often the case, those who wanted to cover the content thoroughly and really learn the ins and outs of everything are the ones who became the most frustrated. I myself, as can clearly be seen, was quite ready to say 'well, tried it, ran into one of WebMarshall's quirky little idiosyncracies and am now out of time'. Because I know I can always check it out later and at my leisure, and as I am confident in my abilities I don't feel the need to have a supportive environment while I explore.
A great frustration for all I think was that this was presented to us as 'can be done at work, only 15 minutes a day' and this is patently not the case. The minutes of the Staff Meetings at no less than 3 of our Branches have recently included the point that this program is not do-able in 15 minutes and a day and that participants need to be prepared to spend some time at home completing that tasks. Well, this raises the question of how many of us would have volunteered if this out of hours commitment had been part of the initial information. It assumes that all of the staff have internet access at home (not the case) and that that access is capable of the speed necessary to open the various programs (not my case: see previous entry). And it assumes that we have the time to spare, a notion that leaves me rotflmao.
The final word:
This was an excellent program, and a great idea. It just ran in to some administrative hiccups. Cure the hiccups and all will be well.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Audio books
I have an American friend who can reserve books in Mp3 format, enjoy them and then have them do a mission impossible on her as they disappear - minus the smoke - without any intervention on the due date.
Wonderful idea and she's very happy with her Library for providing this service.
I suspect that Audio books are a similarly delightful service but I am not going to find out today. The slow nature of the download means that by the time The rime of the ancient mariner finishes loading from http://www.gutenberg.org I will need to be on my way to the second shift.
(Although I've changed pcs and at least it is downloading and lookit, on this machine I can insert links that do so.)
Also, a thought for those offering and promoting this service: as a rural dweller, unless I spring the many hundreds of dollars required to install a dish, broadband is unavailable to me. My internet comes down tired copper wiring harking back to when Telstra was a service provided by the Government, it doesn't matter that our Computers are lovely and newish and capable of delivering broadband, it just isn't do-able. And we are not alone in this. Those of us in the information industry tend to make a whole pile of assumptions about the availability of broadband and the modernity of the equipment attached to it by our Patrons, we also assume they have the understanding that a virus checker checked for updates at every log on is an essential part of maintaining ones online health and yet it was only recently a woman who gave every indication of being on the upper curve of the intelligence bellcurve was quite insistent to me that she did not need a subscription to Norton, McAfee or their ilk 'because I only go online to do my banking'.
::headslap::
::eyeroll::
::thunking of head on keyboard::
Wonderful idea and she's very happy with her Library for providing this service.
I suspect that Audio books are a similarly delightful service but I am not going to find out today. The slow nature of the download means that by the time The rime of the ancient mariner finishes loading from http://www.gutenberg.org I will need to be on my way to the second shift.
(Although I've changed pcs and at least it is downloading and lookit, on this machine I can insert links that do so.)
Also, a thought for those offering and promoting this service: as a rural dweller, unless I spring the many hundreds of dollars required to install a dish, broadband is unavailable to me. My internet comes down tired copper wiring harking back to when Telstra was a service provided by the Government, it doesn't matter that our Computers are lovely and newish and capable of delivering broadband, it just isn't do-able. And we are not alone in this. Those of us in the information industry tend to make a whole pile of assumptions about the availability of broadband and the modernity of the equipment attached to it by our Patrons, we also assume they have the understanding that a virus checker checked for updates at every log on is an essential part of maintaining ones online health and yet it was only recently a woman who gave every indication of being on the upper curve of the intelligence bellcurve was quite insistent to me that she did not need a subscription to Norton, McAfee or their ilk 'because I only go online to do my banking'.
::headslap::
::eyeroll::
::thunking of head on keyboard::
Week 9: Podcasts aka Webmarshall strikes again
Podcast.net is blocked by Webmarshall
The home page of Podcastalley.com will open but getting beyond the first page rivals paint drying, bread rising and grass growing for speed...
Even the top podcasts option, which you'd think is a fairly uncomplicated link, is attempting to load for about 50 seconds and then sullenly telling me its Done when nothing has happened except'n ah've gotten older.
I stand corrected, something has happened, now I have an error message 'internet explorer cannot display the webpage'.
http://podcasts.yahoo.com is equally unhappy about the prospect of loading. (There 'tis, another error message, same as before).
Fortunately I can comment on podcasting as I've been an infrequent listener to a blog recommended in Vogue Knitting. Alas the name and link are at home but essentially I found that being a dial-up customer on a decidedly dodgy phone line it was impossible to stream and listen, I had to download the file to my harddrive (using my download manager and allowing an hour and a half for a 15 minute chat to reach completion) and then it's there to be listened to at my leisure.
And therein lies the trap. Once the thing is on my hd, just like a book you own and are going to read 'one day', it sits waiting in a digital holding pattern for that mythical day when I sit down at my pc and instead of thinking 'Ach, damn, 145 missives in the in-box and thats after I've deleted the spam, how long has Aunt Agatha waited for a reply? Oopser, 7 weeks, best start there' I sit down and think 'I'm so up to date, I'll just indulge in one of those podcasts I've got on file...how delightful.'
Score so far, podcasts downloaded: 8, podcasts listened to: 2.
A 25% success rate.
But I'm halfway through The God Delusion (Dawkins) and three chapters in on The six sacred stones (Reilly) because they're portable entertainment and mind expanding reading.
And I recognise that if I could dl podcasts to an mp3 player I'd have played them all by now, so maybe it's less a matter of time and more a matter of adequate technology.
The home page of Podcastalley.com will open but getting beyond the first page rivals paint drying, bread rising and grass growing for speed...
Even the top podcasts option, which you'd think is a fairly uncomplicated link, is attempting to load for about 50 seconds and then sullenly telling me its Done when nothing has happened except'n ah've gotten older.
I stand corrected, something has happened, now I have an error message 'internet explorer cannot display the webpage'.
http://podcasts.yahoo.com is equally unhappy about the prospect of loading. (There 'tis, another error message, same as before).
Fortunately I can comment on podcasting as I've been an infrequent listener to a blog recommended in Vogue Knitting. Alas the name and link are at home but essentially I found that being a dial-up customer on a decidedly dodgy phone line it was impossible to stream and listen, I had to download the file to my harddrive (using my download manager and allowing an hour and a half for a 15 minute chat to reach completion) and then it's there to be listened to at my leisure.
And therein lies the trap. Once the thing is on my hd, just like a book you own and are going to read 'one day', it sits waiting in a digital holding pattern for that mythical day when I sit down at my pc and instead of thinking 'Ach, damn, 145 missives in the in-box and thats after I've deleted the spam, how long has Aunt Agatha waited for a reply? Oopser, 7 weeks, best start there' I sit down and think 'I'm so up to date, I'll just indulge in one of those podcasts I've got on file...how delightful.'
Score so far, podcasts downloaded: 8, podcasts listened to: 2.
A 25% success rate.
But I'm halfway through The God Delusion (Dawkins) and three chapters in on The six sacred stones (Reilly) because they're portable entertainment and mind expanding reading.
And I recognise that if I could dl podcasts to an mp3 player I'd have played them all by now, so maybe it's less a matter of time and more a matter of adequate technology.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
YouTube
Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged by Little Kuribo.
Say. No. More.
Go watch it instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDzdmZCNIeo
Say. No. More.
Go watch it instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDzdmZCNIeo
Web 2.0 Awards
More creative and varied ways to live life to the full by sitting in front of a pc.
I had heard of CraigsList so had a squiz around the site.
Good feature: you can narrow the shopping down to your local area. Drawback: no one in my local area has the books I am looking to buy.
Good feature: clear advice, including examples, of the many ways one can be scammed whilst shopping. Drawback: No real payment alternatives offered apart from the 'do your buying face to face' option.
I am naturally distrustful of sites like this and ebay, I suspect that many more folks get scammed than are willing to admit it...
I had heard of CraigsList so had a squiz around the site.
Good feature: you can narrow the shopping down to your local area. Drawback: no one in my local area has the books I am looking to buy.
Good feature: clear advice, including examples, of the many ways one can be scammed whilst shopping. Drawback: No real payment alternatives offered apart from the 'do your buying face to face' option.
I am naturally distrustful of sites like this and ebay, I suspect that many more folks get scammed than are willing to admit it...
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Zoho-ho-ho aka Straw. Camel. Back.
Oooh this is a good one, I have access to Zoho writer, I do, WebMarshall will let me in baby, but click on any frelling option and it locketh me right out of the new window/page.
I'm out of time now until next week.
Not finding the fun in the doing of this. Limited time is one form of pressure, programmes that argue with you is another.
I'm out of time now until next week.
Not finding the fun in the doing of this. Limited time is one form of pressure, programmes that argue with you is another.
Zoho writer
Thirty minutes later....
I now have access, have created my account and must go back to my email to verify the thing.
15 minutes a day.
Le snorfle.
I now have access, have created my account and must go back to my email to verify the thing.
15 minutes a day.
Le snorfle.
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