Lifestreaming and Personal Web Sites
One of my goals for re-vamping my site was to include all the external content I post around the web: google reader items, flickr photos, twitter posts, etc. After all, the traditional personal site is dead.
I’ve made a good decent first stab at the goal here…. but it’s still not quite right. I want you to be able to read my comments about shared Google Reader items, see who’s commented on my flickr photos, and see my favorite youtube videos all from my site. Most importantly, I want people to be able to subscribe to one RSS feed that contains all of this 3rd party content.
Dave, at Mezzoblue, is in the process of accomplishing exactly what I want:
“I’m merging my traditional posts with links from Delicious and Google Reader (which is what I was up to when I wrote about the latter’s API), photos from Flickr, and Twitter posts (or tweets, if you prefer). The home page, archives, and primary Atom feed all work on this new system.”
Perhaps I could install a Wordpress plugin called lifestream to get me started along this path… but as someone pointed out in the comments re: lifestream:
“…two things: 1) I’d like to keep the number of ready-made plugins down, and 2) since it’s just based on RSS feeds, there isn’t as much information to play around with, so it kinda limits the possibilities. For example, in Dave’s system, with every Flickr post, it shows how many comments that photo has at any given time.”
Instead, I need to use these tools’ APIs to accomplish what I want. We just did something similar at work (our tag cloud on the “For Undergraduates” page is now powered by the Delicious API). I just need another Christmas break from work so that I can do some more tinkering.
Progress on Entry Way
I know that doesn’t look like alot of progress since my last post… but believe me, this was a ton of work. Mostly, it was difficult because I don’t know what I’m doing re: gardening/landscaping. Getting those damned pavers even was a pain.
Originally, we’d planned on buying air conditioner pads to serve as pavers. They’re cheaper and bigger. But we struck out when trying to find them… so I went with these regular ole’ pavers. Turned out pretty nice though.
Next step is to install a border and start planting beyond the entry way. Hey yo!
Entry Way and Planting Bed
I started the process of re-doing our front entry way and planting bed today. We purchased the house a year ago and have been planning to streamline the landscaping in the front of our house. Today, I removed the old concrete border in our planting bed.
In the photo below, you can see where the old border once was. I’ve also outlined where the new bed/entryway will be using a garden hose.
The next step is to buy the new border, pea gravel, and a few pavers. Hopefully I’ll get some more accomplished tomorrow… at which point I’ll post an update.
Hurley’s Christmas Present
My sister mailed our Christmas presents to us this week and we decided to allow our dog, Hurley, to unwrap his own present. Video below:
My Holiday Project
I’m off work for two weeks, so my holiday project is to re-vamp my personal site. Whoop, here it is!
My goal is for this site to be much less stagnant that it’s been in the past. Herego, I’ve installed Wordpress. My hope is that this site will serve as a gathering point for my web content, including blog posts, flickr images, shared bookmarks, etc.
The hardest part is going to be blogging. It’s been a few years since I blogged on a regular basis, so we’ll see how this goes. I’ll probably post on a variety of topics that interest me professional and/or personally.
Word… please comment… otherwise this’ll feel pointless.
Top 10 Tools for Learning and Working
Jane Hart put out a call for e-learning professionals’ top 10 tools that they use for learning and working. Here’s mine:
1. Firefox - Firefox rules, IE drools! Love the tabs, love the extensions, love the speed, love the customization, love it.
2. Google reader + Google notebook + Gmail + iGoogle + Google Docs and Spreadsheets + Google Search - I lumped all these Google apps into one. Google Reader let’s me digest a ton of info quickly. Google notebook gives me an easy way to collect and organize thoughts. Gmail is an e-mail app, chat tool, to-do list, idea collection box, and more in one. iGoogle is my home on the web. Docs and Spreadsheets is an easy way to collaborate. Google search is google search.
3. Wordpress - Been a long time blogger user. In 2004 I created my first (and most visited) blog using Blogger. However, I’ve recently been converted to Wordpress. Much easier to use. Nice features. Pretty templates. Only downside is that you can’t customize the HTML using the hosted version. OK with me for now. (Update: I’ve installed Wordpress on mattlisle.com. Hey yo!)
4. Flickr - Nice way to keep the fam updated on what I’m doing. Also a good learning tool. For example, I’m preparing for a move to Austin, TX and have used flickr alot to learn more about my new city. It even gives good real esate advice! Be sure to visit my flickr page.
5. Captivate - Captivate has lots of in’s, lots of out’s, lots of what have you’s. But once you figure those out, it’s a great tool.
6. Microsoft Office + Sharepoint - If you find yourself working for a company or school that is Microsoft-centric, the Office suite and Sharepoint can be pretty useful. Specifically Sharepoint, which can be used for discussion boards, wikis, blogs, document sharing, and much more. I’ll be posting soon about how I’ve used Sharepoint as a knowledge management system at work (subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss out).
7. TextPad - Great free text editor for html, css, etc.
8. iTunes - Podcasts! I love the This American Life podcast!
9. Adobe Connect - We use Adobe Connect for synchronous online training, as well as virtual collaboration. It’s kinda pricey, but the best web conferencing software I’ve used. Very versatile and dependable…. pretty too!
10) Facebook - Great way to keep up with e-learning pros, read about your long lost friends, show off your new wife, learn about a new city, etc. Now that they’ve opened their API, there are tons of useful third party apps. I’ve been able to integrate my “recommended reading” from google reader, my wordpress blog, and flickr photos. Add me as a friend!
Open Facebook
Wired makes a call for open standards in social networking sites. I’ve heard this complaint in several places, and think it’s a valid one. It’s annoying that our social netorking “identities” are walled off. Take me for example… I have accounts with LinkedIn, Facebook, Internet Time, Eduspaces, MySpace, Friendster, and countless other social networking startups whose tires I kicked for a few days. Each time I create one of these accounts, I have to recreate my network. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could see all of my facebook contacts when logged in to linkedin?
Here’s a couple money quotes:
“They’re all good, but they’d be better if they worked together. The iPhone would be better if it could also be used on Verizon’s and Sprint’s networks, and Facebook would be better if you could link to friends’ pages on MySpace and Bebo. Social networking should be based on open standards, just like e-mail. “
“We would like to place an open call to the web-programming community to solve this problem. We need a new framework based on open standards. Think of it as a structure that links individual sites and makes explicit social relationships, a way of defining micro social networks within the larger network of the web. “
There are people who see Facebook as more of a ”gated community” (as some would call it) than a closed network. However, you could still have an exclusive “members-only” network, while still having the ability to share your information with outsiders.
So, we’ll just have to keep waiting until open standards are developed for these sites. Until then, we could all replace Facebook using open social tools. It’s a temporary fix, at least.
Ipod Heritage Trail - My Wifey
My wifey is working on a Masters in Historic Preservation, and her thesis project involves creating an iPod heritage trail for Cumberland Island in Georgia. The idea is that visitors to the island will be able to experience interpretive exhibits in a remote setting. Using portable technologies, visitors can obtain a personalized tour in dense forests, untouched beaches, and abandoned buildings.
So far, she’s been doing research, writing scripts, etc. But now she’s finally working on the actual exhibits… and I gotta say, this is gonna be cool. Imagine standing at the Dungeness ruins and getting a multimedia lesson on the history of the site. Or… stand at the chimneys from the old slave cabins and see a rendering of how the site used to look.
Anyway, I think it’s great and I’m proud of her. Hopefully when she’s done with a couple of the exhibits, she’ll allow me to post one on Youtube so you can see it here.
Why I Left Eduspaces
I recently moved my blog from Eduspaces to Wordpress. Eduspaces is built on the Elgg platform, which enables you to create your own social network. The Eduspaces network is devoted to educators, which is a great idea… but it’s not quite there.
Here’s a few things I’d like to see Elgg improve upon:
- There’s no way to separate quality content from the rest. As I said in a comment on the Internet Time forums, Eduspaces needs a way to recommend content. When you log in, you’re normally greeted with a mountain of blog posts. A recent article on Wired talks about how Daily Kos gets around this issue. Users are able to vote, promote, and rank content created by the community.
- I couldn’t see what my “friends” were doing. When you log in to Facebook, you can see that Friend A added Friend B to their contacts list. Friend C joined Group A. Friend D wrote a new blog post…. and so on. Elgg does allow you to view your “Friends’ Blog”, which compiles all of your friends’ posts into one list. That’s a good start…
- After trying Wordpress, adding the Wordpress app to Facebook, and joining a few e-learning Facebook groups, I really don’t have much of a need for Eduspaces. Most Eduspaces folks are on Facebook, and they’re much more active there (most likely for some of the reasons I’ve listed above).
I hope this doesn’t sound too critical of Elgg. I think it’s a great idea. I like that it’s open source. I just think it needs some work.
Wii + Second Life for Training Simulations
Nice article on Wired about a firm who is helping organizations build training simulations using a “Wii-mote” in Second Life.
A few examples were cited:
- a company interested in training workers for its power plants
- a manufacturer of medical devices
- pest-control firm Orkin, who is hoping “…to create training simulations, which might involve inspecting a house for moisture and heat sources or mixing chemicals and loading them onto a truck.
Cool cool cool…