Fresh Off a Magazine Rack Near You: Podcasts August 21, 2008
Posted by ramonmendias in Blogging, Web 2.0.Tags: blogging, podcast, Web 2.0
3 comments
This week I’m writing about podcasts and their importance to the Web industry. Although, podcasts are not new to the world, their popularity is increasing at alarming rate. Podcast were originally created to play on Apple iPods, but can be played on most mp3 players these days. Initially, they were primarily an audio file, but video has been added to the format. The newer podcasts with video have also been called vodcasts or vcasts. I read some interesting articles in regard to some of the facts about the format, and what many schools are doing with them. The sheer numbers of people who are using the files were astonishing.
I personally do not have an iPod or a compatible mp3 player. When I started watching vcasts a while back, I was surprised they were FREE and available to anyone subscribing to the feed. People make podcasts about everything. I look at them as being the new magazine, except you can see and hear the articles come to life. I have an mp3 player, but was thinking about replacing it with an iPod which has a lot more storage. I’ll be able to subscribe to some of my favorite feeds and it downloads them automatically. I love technology!! I think businesses will continue to increase their efforts with this technology, since there are so many people that listen or watch them. Training is essential in our Web industry, so you can bet on companies wanting to save money on that front. It’s a no brainer.
I wanted to share some tweaking I made to my personal blog last week. I have been getting some traffic, but haven’t had anyone post any comments, which is ok. However, I’m afraid this has been caused by some settings I had in my admin area. Thanks to Bana…I was informed that you had to login to create a comment, which is not as user-friendly as just clicking the comment link, posting your thoughts, and leaving. If you have a WordPress.com blog, the same login credentials you use there will not work on your personal blog being hosted on another server. I went into settings and unchecked the “Users must be registered and logged in to comment” check box and all is fixed. Other tweaks I made include creating a different header, CSS edits to correct my WordPress and Technorati tag spacing at the bottom of my posts, and I also swapped out the comment graphic so it doesn’t blend into the page like it did. It will be easier to tell where you can add a comment to my posts now.
Quality Not Quantity: Find The Right Results In Your Online Searches August 15, 2008
Posted by ramonmendias in Research.Tags: keywords, query, search engine, tips
5 comments
This is a great topic to get into, because I have trouble finding what I am looking for online all the time. The problem is there is so much information online, and the search engines are built in a way that forces you to come up with different keyword lists to try to get what you want. I read this interesting interview with a researcher named Ramesh Jain. It was recorded in 2004, but I thought he made some valid points that still hold true. He talks about the search engine algorithms only working in well defined cases, such as finding a restaurant in Atlanta with a certain kind of food. In cases such as trying to find a so-called “lifestyle” restaurant, the results wouldn’t be that great. We’re bound by keywords, and until developers devise a new way of searching through data, we are going to have to work with what we have.
I was looking for a Website that listed cycling groups and their routes, and never quite found exactly what I was looking for. The most irritating thing is I know there is something out there that fits, but not putting together the right keywords makes it near impossible. On many of my searches, in general, I find the amount of time I have dictates what I choose in the search engine. I don’t have time to sift through 108 pages of results.
Since keywords are the primarily vehicle we use to get our search results, I have been educating myself recently on putting queries together to get better results. I’ve been using an older search engine query cheat sheet and this week I found this updated one. I have to admit I haven’t used all of these search terms, but one that I find really effective is the “site:” term. A couple of weeks ago I was looking for that kid in the orange shirt doing all those crazy break-dancing moves on YouTube, and I already had Google up in a browser. I basically typed “break dancing site:youtube.com” in the Google search field. The video I was looking for was like 5 down from the top. The “site:” term searches the website you put afterwards. Now that’s pretty cool!
Additional Links:
Web Research Guide
Tacit Knowledge: You Can Get It From a Book, Right? August 7, 2008
Posted by ramonmendias in Community.Tags: Communities of Practice, Community, learning
4 comments
The short answer is no. The interesting topic for this week is “Communities of Practice“, which have also been called learning groups, thematic groups, or tech clubs.
“Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.”– Etienne Wenger
The key information I gathered from my research, as it applies to our Web industry, is one being able to gain tacit knowledge that’s not in any manuals or reading materials. I don’t recall ever being in a member of a community of practice. However, I can see its significance, especially in our Web industry. Trying to create cutting edge Web applications or design, CSS 3.0 for example, needs a collaborative learning component in order for us designers and developers to be able to refine and perfect the new standards. Next week, I’m sure there will be something else out there that’s introduced on the Web. That’s why we need to stay active and social in our groups! I have been guilty of getting comfortable in my position and not making the time.
By the way, I registered for the AMA event at Brookhaven Country Club that’s on the 20th of this month. I hope that I see some of you there. The event is called – Finding a Fit with Web 2.0: How Lee Jeans Took a Traditional Cause Campaign Local. I’ve been to AMA events before, and they never disappoint.
Blog for Success: Don’t let the campfire go out August 1, 2008
Posted by ramonmendias in Blogging, Web 2.0.Tags: blog, blogging, tips
5 comments
Looking to start up a blog? Well you might want to strap in tight because you’re not going to have mobs of paparazzi outside your house waiting to get a picture of you the day after launch. Man, that would be pretty funny, wouldn’t it? Blogs are similar to how a Website is born and maintained. Once a Website has launched, one can’t expect people to just show up and hammer the Website with traffic. It’s a gradual process that involves some promotion on your part along with some patience. Much of the promotion of your blog can come from being active in your blogging circles.
I read quite a few articles on blogging tips and blog etiquette. I have tendencies to be introverted most of the time unless I feel strongly about something. Recently I sense I have broken through many of those barriers I’ve put up in the past and look forward to these posts each week. I think it’s important to be honest with yourself, and share only what you feel you should share.
I decided to take the opportunity of our personal blog assignment to talk about an extremely tragic event in my life so perhaps someone might feel motivated or inspired to keep treading the rough waters one might be in. I am having a little issue with the permanent link paths with some of the pages, but I should have that worked out very soon. My personal blog can be found here.
