Social bookmarking for images on vi.sualize.us

social bookmarking for images on vi.sualize.us

Looks interesting!

My del.icio.us...

Links for 2008-08-01 [del.icio.us] Posted: 02 Aug 2008 12:00 AM CDT TweetStats :: Graphin' Your Stats Easy Tweets - The Multi Account Microblogging Platform

Twitter tools

A few tools which make Twitter slightly more useful / user-friendly than its basic incarnation...

Most useful...
Twitterfeed - use Twitter as a sort of public RSS for your blog
Twhirl - desktop client which makes 'tweeting' and following other folk's updates far easier
TweetStats - want to track your usage of Twitter? This is an easy peasy way of doing it!
TweetVolume - allows you to compare key words to compare current popularity on Twitter
Feedtweeter - allows you to post your tweets to Plurk and vice versa, saving that clicking finger!

Others...
twittersearch - search for keywords in everyone's tweets
Hashtags - give you the potential to tag your tweets
Mashable's Twitter Toolbox - oodles more Twitter-ific toys!

Sure there have to be lots more useful ones out there so with luck I'll be able to update this with more soon!

Who gets the lion's share? Does it really matter?

Twitter Versus Plurk: The UI Advantage - ReadWriteWeb: "That said, the problem Plurk faces is the exact same problem that Mixx faces. Though the site has a better service, they can't match the same number of registrations or activity as market leaders simply because of the first mover advantage. People either find it too complicated (it's not) or are too lazy (they definitely are) to transfer their entire network over to a new service. The problem is that no one wants to move to a new site unless their entire network of friends moves too. This means unless there is a mass migration, a majority of the people (though they are definitely testing it) won't stay with the service in the long term.

In fact, even though I really like Plurk, I don't use it as frequently as Twitter simply because all my friends are using Twitter more frequently."

Mmmm - I get where they're coming from with the above quote. I guess with all these things that a service can be as pretty as it wants (Apple)... as reliable as it wants (Linux)... as connected as it wants (Flock)... but it's never going to necessarily be the dominant player simply by virtue of its technical / aesthetic advantages if it didn't get there first or make the most noise when it arrived. Apathy, it turns out, could well be *the* killer app. Literally. If you and those around you just can't be bothered to make the switch, then all these 'next best things' will stay in the future and never really become 'now'. Apathy can kill of adoption... in theory.

I suppose in a way this is a little like the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) vs. PLE (Personalized Learning Environment) debate. Institution vs. the individual. If everyone around you is using a particular system and it integrates nicely with everything else (or at least, it approximately ticks the right boxes), then there will always be a struggle to give alternative approaches an appropriate level of validity. Isn't this a form of the 'Long Tail' in terms of adoption? Niche upon niche of 'this suits my needs best' isn't a bad thing and it doesn't mean that the smaller players haven't 'won' in some sense of the word. So, while institutions are trying to create a VLE that works and is robust, they're missing a trick. They're ruling out all the other bits of personalized advantage people can find for themselves in creating their own PLEs. So what if an institution can't actively support a student's own PLE? Why not just open the door a wee smidge so that it's at least seen as okay and offer support that helps these things be used to their best advantage? I guess I always have this nagging doubt about things being a bit 'Emporer's New Clothes'. Everyone saying something is marvellous and wonderful when they're just being dragged along by a strange concensus. You can miss a trick and then some if you don't keep an ear to the ground and listen out for bits of educational coolness...

Wonder where this blog posting is going? Not sure really! To bed will be my first move... and an additional think about it all in the morning will be the next one! :o)

Facebook facelift

OooOOOooooh! Facebook got a facelift!! There's a new swanky version kicking around and it actually gives users a bit more control over what they do and don't want to see. You get to set preferences for the type of news stories / people you're interested in and it looks familiar enough to be instantly usable, and it's much easier to comment on little bits which interest you, rather than having to wade around finding points at which to make comment (that last bit'll make sense if you take a look at 'new' Facebook).

Easier to publish stuff, easier to read stuff, easier to customize it... looks good on first glance. Just gotta block those annoying ads on the right hand side... and I'm sorted. :o)

Now then... when's this sort of flexibility going to built into institutional VLEs... hmmm?

The Last Lecturer

Obituary: Randy Pausch | Science | The Guardian: "Randy Pausch

The academic whose Last Lecture became an inspirational internet phenomenon"

Saw Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" some time ago and found it to be one of the most inspiring things I've seen in a long time. Strangely sad to hear that he's passed away when I never knew him or had any other connection with him other than that one short online video. If you didn't see it when it first came out, watch it. He's left an amazing legacy - a creative educator who reached out and touch many lives... and showed that even when there doesn't seem to be any hope left, there is always hope left.

My del.icio.us...

Links for 2008-07-27 [del.icio.us] Posted: 28 Jul 2008 12:00 AM CDT Facebook Connect Will Be Game-Changing...and Dangerous - ReadWriteWeb Official Google Blog: We knew the web was big... 1 trillion unique urls out there as at 2008.

Twitter and Tumblr and Plurk... oh my!

Good grief... how's a girl supposed to follow which one of these 'follow me' type services to sign up to and follow? And what identity to use? And what distinguishes one from the other? And how can I can make for an easy life and use a single way to update all of these various services??

Twitter - like using Twhirl to update it, but forget to load the client as it can be a memory hog
Tumblr - kinda looks pretty, but not sure where it fits in between blogging and micro-blogging
Plurk - just not sure about it generally. Looks pretty... but... is pretty enough?

So many services... so little time...

Wonder when the microblogging bubble will burst?

Simple color blind web page filter

Colorblind Web Page Filter: "Colorblind Web Page Filter"

Simple idea... but very very useful for anyone designing any type of web content and making proper consideration of some key accessibility issues.

I do love good simple ideas!

The weirdness of the world...

Just realised that someone I 'know' on one system... is someone I 'know' on another... but I'd never realised they were the same person.

Every so often I'm reminded what a weird little world the online one can be!  How could you know two people in 'real' life and not twig they were one and the same?  Multiple-online identity confusion.  Very strange.

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