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« March 2008 | Main | May 2008 »
The latest tweets from the Write Technology Twitter Feed:
I'm often inspired by Guy Kawasaki. Lately I've been inspired by his Tweets. Today he pointed out some things, which I I think make an excellent point about the MacBook Air. It doesn't come with any of the external things you need to make it a primary machine.
I'm an Apple girl at heart (although I'm typing on a PC, there's an iBook right beside me). I also plan on buying a MacBook Pro this summer as a primary machine. But I don't always buy into all of the Apple hype, which tends to save me money. Once I got past the initial ooohs and ahhhs over the MacBook Air, I decided it just wasn't practical for my everyday work environment. For instance, it's great that Apple thinks all software can downloaded or streamed OTA, but in reality, it can't. Not unless you've got an insanely high-tech household AND want to go through the trouble of putting the install files on a separate computer to access them. Really, I just want a CD drive. If I've got a DVD, as opposed to a downloaded movie, I want to be able to watch it on an airplane. Apple has great ideas - they're just ahead of their time.
To my point, here is Guy Kawasaki's standard configuration for his MacBook Air:
And here is a humorous video he tweeted today, which is an ad for a lenovo Thinkpad:
The latest tweets from the Write Technology Twitter Feed:
Sometimes I get so caught up in my Real World Work that I have no time to catch up on RSS feeds. That means I miss stories like this in the New York Times. Two prolific and well-read bloggers have recently passed away, at young ages, and a third had a heart attack.
While it took the NY Times to come out and say it, many are putting this towards Type A personality stress. They blogged themselves to death. Particularly in technology, the stakes are high. You want to scoop other technology blogs out there, you pull all nighters, and you survive at your computer.
There is a direct correlation between the weight I gained this year and the increased time I've spent at the computer. Now, I'm not trying to scoop someone else (heck, I can't even keep up with all my feeds), but I am trying to at least stay on top of social media. Every day there's a new app out there and I try to get a beta invite and at least familiarize myself with it. That's on top of my Real Job, which is, at this very moment, a technical documentation project.
I've taken control and made the decision to get healthy and spend less time at the computer and more time visiting the gym and eating regularly and correctly. But not all bloggers can do that - there is an amazing amount of blog fatigue and stress if you let it get to you. If I actually worry about it, the wine blog can get to me - I haven't had an original post in days. As great as it is, blogging can have a downside, but you just have to take control and maintain a work-life balance. And you have to remember that it's just a blog. The world won't end if you miss a day or two.
The latest tweets from the Write Technology Twitter Feed:
The latest tweets from the Write Technology Twitter Feed:
The latest tweets from the Write Technology Twitter Feed:
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
Twitter is already being used in academia. I think we could easily adapt some of those uses for the corporate training room.
ChitChat: Students may continue the conversations outside of class using Twitter. This is especially important when the class is spread out via elearning. The students have a shared experience - your classroom. This conversation and experience now continue outside, the same as with a wiki, yet with less effort.
Connection with VIPs: You can follow the big names. For instance, when it comes to Web 2.0, I follow Geoff Livingston, Chris Brogan, Brian Solis, and Jason Falls, amongst others. What is often surprising to me is when they follow me back. Twitter flattens the org chart. Your CEO can twitter and in the process, chat with employees that also Twitter. Suddenly, everyone is just a Twitterer. It's a great way to learn from the experts or access the executive tier.
Question and Answer: Twitter can provide instant feedback. It's great for question and answer. Recently, Geoff Livingston was guest lecturing at University of Maryland. He asked Twitter - what advice would you give students for graduation? He received tons of responses, live, which were shared with his students instantly. Another Twitterer once demonstrated the power of instant feedback by asking Twitterers to call him on his cell phone while he was giving a presentation. The constant flow of calls was so much he had to beg folks to stop calling him. His point was well proven. This can also be used with GroupTweet to pick a specific distribution list for your question tweets.
Twitter Tracking: I actually have a few issues with this one. I don't use Twitter on my phone very much. I set up phone notifications for a few folks for one month, and it was too much. Not being 22 or younger, I don't like getting constant text messages. Maybe I just need an unlimited texting plan. So now I just get Direct Messages only via text. Twitter Tracking is a cool feature that needs to be expanded to the Web. Currently, you can send Track Instructional Design (for example) to Twitter via SMS and you will recieve an update whenever someone tweets using the phrase "instructional design." You get the update via your phone. The concept of tracking, however, is fantastic. Want to know what's up with the latest iPhone update? Track iPhone. To turn it off, simply send "Untrack iPhone" via SMS. A nifty web-optimized replacement tool for Twitter Tracking is TweetScan.
For education, Twitter Tracking (even through TweetScan) could be used to track instances of language use, specific conferences, and so forth.
Note Taking/Sharing: You can ping specific tweets/thoughts as Notes using TwitterNotes. You can then share the notes with the world - or with your class.
The latest tweets from the Write Technology Twitter Feed:
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
The latest tweets from the Write Technology Twitter Feed:
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
Get Plugged In to Social Networking
Panelist focusing on Social Netiquette
The METS Center, Northern Kentucky, June 4, 7:30 am
eLearning Guild's Using Media to Engage the Learner Online Conference, 6/4-5/09: Closing General Session:Cool Tools: Free Web 2.0 Tools to Legally Spice Up Your Training
June 5, noon-1:15
