Month: September 2009

Sidewiki from Google – Cool, but beyond my control

Google introduced a feature within the Google Toolbar that allows users to comment on web sites. Other Google users can then review these comments. In the image below, I have identified the toolbar (in the case added to Firefox) and a comment I added to my own web page. The service is called Sidewiki.

sidewiki

Here is the description from the official Google blog and the NYTimes.

Here is perhaps the most useful post I found on sidewiki (Danny Sullivan).

This idea is not exactly new and reminds me of some of the features of Diigo. Most others have compared sidewiki to other services so perhaps they are seeing something different in this product.

It is important to note that this service has already drawn criticism. Jeff Jarvis, normally a Google advocate (What would Google do?), predicts this will generate criticism of Google. I think the issue is that I as creator of content cannot control whether this service is linked to me content or not. I might welcome the interaction and see this is easier than some other add-on (e.g, tinychat), but I might also prefer that others not add to what I offer and perhaps encourage links elsewhere. The point is I am not in control. Google offers other services based on the inclusion of a small bit of code within the HTML of a page, this approach might have solved the lack of control issue. (Follow-up post from Jarvis)

I did a Twitter search on sidewiki and it has been a very hot topic today.

BTW – the Google toolbar has other interesting capabilities. For example it, allows the translation of a page into other languages. Cindy is in Russia at the moment. So, babe – see if someone can read this.

inrussian

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Import EXIF Location Data (cooler than it sounds)

I have solved a problem and want to share. It is likely a problem for very few others. YET.

Here is the problem. We have a digital camera with an interesting feature. It has a built-in GPS and stores the exact location from which each picture was taken. These data are stored as part of EXIF (exchangeable image file format) in the same file as the image. If you are a Flickr user you may know that some images are accompanied by information such as the camera used to take the picture, aperture, shutter speed, etc. This is EXIF data. The longitude and latitude (I can never remember which is which) can also be stored as EXIF data.

The location data are very exact and allow images to be connected to a map (e.g., the map available within Flickr). I have been unable to get this to happen automatically (based on the EXIF data) and have had to display the data in iPhoto and then manually associate these coordinates with images once in Flickr. Some Google searches finally led to me the problem and solution.

Evidently, geo-locating images is possibly a security/privacy issue and the default setting in Flickr must be to not import location data. To allow these data to be uploaded with the image, you must locate “privacy and permissions” under the “your account” settings. There is a setting for “Import EXIF location data”.

googlegpsmap

The results are impressive. Here the position of the image (the pink dot) is positioned on the “hybrid” view of the map within Flickr.

It does make sense that you would not want the location of every image you upload to Flickr to be available to the public. Here is the technique I discovered for entering the same precise information for individual images.

I keep my images in iPhoto. You can connect images to a map location within iPhoto, but it is a little difficult to find the actual coordinates. Under the “photos” menubar heading, there is a feature “Show extended photo info”. This opens an information window that contains location information.

locationinfo

You then use the “add to your map” from the appropriate image in Flickr and enter 47.938236,-97.499985. The image will be added to your flickr map.

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Back to the USSR

Just took Cindy to the airport and she is off on another of her “adventures”. This one is a two-week follow up to her previous trip to Russia to do some presentations and visit several schools. Cindy seems to have the right combination of technological and pedagogical knowledge, presentations skills, and personality to repeatedly be supported for these ventures. She tends to be very unassuming and unimposing unless some salesperson in a big box tech store or trade show vendor exhibit makes assumptions about what some 60-year old grandmother from North Dakota could possibly know about technology.

I have been waiting to write this post because with all of the illness about we both were somewhat concerned the trip would not happen. International travel with all of the equipment she carries, the multiple stops, and the sometimes “planes, trains, and automobile” transitions is exhausting beyond the point at which I would describe the experience as exciting. At least, I can now say she is no longer “in the house”.

The reference to the former USSR and/or a Beatles song may seem somewhat inappropriate (since Russia is different from the former USSR). I would have used a different lead to be more PC, but Cindy’s interpreter sent an email using the same phrase – “So, its back to the USSR?”

Stories and photos to follow – Cindy is not a regular blogger, but she does write some interesting material when she travels (With Eyes Wide Open).

kremlin7

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Myna – Online Audio Editor and Creation Tool

The new, free online tools keep coming. Here is an online audio editor called Myna (Aviary, Inc.). I think of this product as an audio-only Garageband. Maybe something else will come to me as I explore some more. You put together your audio creation from clips that are provided, record audio, or upload audio you already have. You can overlay tracks, fade-in, fade-out, etc. If you have used Garageband, you understand the basics and can pretty much just begin creating. When finished, you first mix-down your tracks and then share.

mynademo

It is pretty late so I uploaded a short segment of audio I used as part of a demo podcast created some time ago (in this case without the images) and combined this upload with some music segments available from the Myna library. It was a fairly basic undertaking, but enough of an exercise for me to explore the application and offer something as an example (see link to short audio product below).

I would think this tool would be great for creating podcasts.

mynademo

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A strainer for my aggregator

It is hard to keep up with blog feeds. I kind of run hot and cold on whether I think reviewing blogs provides me information useful to my professional interests. Perhaps I value the process of writing more than reading. Having said this, I am also afraid I will miss something. I have decided I need a strainer for my aggregator(s). I think some folks use Twitter in this way. They rapidly scan and look for things to follow-up on. I am not convinced this helps – you are processing shorter prompts, but you read more comments of limited relevance.

I keep searching and exploring attempting to either create a system or locate a tool that will prove useful. Here are the two tools I am presently exploring.

Feedly

Feedly is a Firefox plug-in that synchs with Google reader.

Feedly asks that you classify your themes into categories and that you differentiate favorite and non-favorite feeds within categories. Your actions when using feedly (selecting items to share, what you favorite) influences what is selected for most immediate access.

Optimize use of Feedly

Fever

Fever uses a different and somewhat mysterious approach to “straining”. This one is not free ($30) and requires that you have access to a server (PHP and MySQL). I am a sucker for tools I can run on my own servers.

There are some similarities – with fever you differentiate those feeds you follow intently (kindling) from those which you sometimes examine (sparks). What fever identifies are trending themes – what topics are hot (I am trying to keep with the fire theme here). How this works is a little unclear. I have included a couple of related articles and one speculates that the categorization process may be based on common “out links” – links of high overall frequency generate a higher temp and also serves to organize posts into themes. Makes some sense.

Practical Practice
Alex Payne

Both of these services allow you to read feeds in a conventional manner. Feedly offers an advantage if Google Reader is your traditional tool because of the synchronization. If you use multiple “strainers”, you may end up spending more rather than less time. What you star, share, or save (or whatever) with one tool does not carry over to the other tool. So, what I am doing here is still experimenting.

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A Message of Responsibility

After all the hype and the controversy, the speech is underway. It is unfortunate that some will not be able to share in the enthusiasm of the moment. Just a few minutes in length, the message was simple and not at all political. Don’t let yourself down – life requires responsibility. Do some disagree? Do a few parents really think their opinion on instructional experiences should over rule common opinion and common sense? Shouldn’t they then make personal decisions for their own children?

When it was over, it was back to class. Where to go next? What period is it now?

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How many companies like this are out there?

The ideas and the options that show up on the Internet are simply amazing. I try quite a few.

Here is my first product from a company called Animoto.

30 second productions are free. Longer productions and the opportunity to download rather than stream your products costs $30 a year. I wonder if there is a way to add a voice over?

I had this image collection from a podcast I did. The pictures were taken last year at about this time.

Some ideas for more sophisticated products from the langwitches blog. Insert text slides to tell a story.

Take 2:

You can integrate titles, but each counts as a slide and the total number is very limited in the free version. Might be worth $30 for a class account.

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