my swickis

my swickis

In the interest of experimentation, I have added a swicki to my blog. If you scroll down all the way to the bottom of my blog you will find it (in the red font). A swicki is a search engine that is supposed to learn from the searches your online community conducts. My swicki is centered on library science and related topics. Feel free to teach my swicki a thing or two...I am curious to see what will happen! Also, follow the link to add a swicki to your own blog.

Apple - Mac OS X - Dashboard

Apple - Mac OS X - Dashboard

AND THE WORD OF THE WEEK IS....WIDGET!

Now that I am blogging about personalized start up pages I thought it might be a good idea to explain the term "widget." It is a cute word for a really handy "mini-application." These mini-applications are what create a personalized start up page. You can choose from widgets such as virtual post it notes, local weather forecasters, news feeds, and even silly little games! If you decide to create your own personalized start-up page than you will be amazed at the number of widgets there are to choose from! One has to pick and choose wisely or the start-up page will become so chock full of widgets it may become overwhelming (at least in my experience).

I chose this Apple Dashboard page to give you a clearer idea of what I mean by widgets. If you purchase an Apple computer, it comes equipped with a personalized start up page of sorts called the Dashboard. You may add widgets to your dashboard to suit your own personalized needs. This is much like creating a personalized start-up page through Pageflakes, Netvibes, Yahoo or Google.

Read through the Apple Dashboard information and if you are feeling adventurous go on over to Pageflakes, Netvibes, Yahoo or Google and set up your own personalized start-up page full of wonderful widgets! Have fun! :)

Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA) - CSIA White Papers

Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA) - CSIA White Papers

The Cyber Security Industry Alliance is right on the ball when it comes to promoting the teaching of online safety, ethics and security to children. The "Teaching Children Cyber Security and Ethics" white paper addresses concerns most teachers and parents have concerning children using the Internet. The alliance seeks not to filter or censor the Internet. The alliance does not once even mention DOPA (Delete Online Predators Act) and for that I must say "Hooray!" This alliance is all about educating children about safe Internet usage from kindergarten through senior high. Educating children in school and at home is the key to teaching them how to protect themselves and to encouraging appropriate online behavior.

I must say I felt so relieved to read this white paper because every time I encounter a school's heavily filtered Internet system or read an article about DOPA I cringe. These measures may protect children in the moment, but do absolutely nothing to teach children how to be safe in the future. Children do not stay children forever. They grow up and become adult Internet users. If support for filtering and censoring continues than we will have a society brimming with ignorant Internet users. The Cyber Security Industry Alliance is a proactive organization that wishes to use education to create truly savvy Internet users. If we must be reactive; let's react to the ideas within this white paper and support standardized measures for teaching Internet safety, ethics and security. No one is more qualified than school media specialists to carry out this mission-we have the future safety of all Americans in our hands!

SUPER SNOW!

SUPER SNOW!
Filamentality is definitely worth checking out. I tried it out and this blog is a link to the hotlist I created. I am hoping this will enable me to have an easier time creating my BUILDER plan (I printed all my links out in the edit mode so I can use them for the BUILDER plan). I was truly amazed to find out how much potential AT&T's filamentality site offers. I chose the hotlist, but I also could have used my links to create a Webquest, scrapbook site, or treasure hunt. The hardest part is surfing the net looking for quality sites to use; but after that, the AT&T site really makes organizing your links into a plan easy. If you haven't tried the AT&T site out for yourself, I highly recommend you click on Katie's link and give it a try...you will definitely be glad you did!

Pageflakes Community Site - Pageflakes Team Blogs

Pageflakes Community Site - Pageflakes Team Blogs
After reading the comment posted by Lee I decided I was game to mosey on over and check out Pageflakes. Well slap my hiney and call me a cowgirl because this site is absolutely amazing! It offers over 100 widgets called "flakes" that you can add to customize your page. For example, you might feel compelled to set up a grade tracker, play Black Jack, add some foreign RSS feeds or create your own snazzy clock (to keep track of all the time you might end up spending on this sweet, personalized startup page). The opportunities are incredible. One especially nice aspect about the site, however, is that you are not overwhelmed initially by all the great features they have to offer. Upon arriving at the site to create your page, the layout is simple and as the founder Ole points out in an interview last May, his motto is to keep things simple in order to let people explore and grow gradually. Great idea since many people are not tech. wizards but can enjoy all that web 2.0 has to offer...if given time to acclimate.

Another really remarkable feature on the site is the ability to keep your page private, invite guests to read and contribute to your page or to make your page completely public so the whole world can have its finger on your pulse. The choice is all up to you in how socially connected you desire your page to be.

The worst part of the site is I may have to migrate from netvibes on over to pageflake (the grade tracker and mastermind widgets really got to me...).

I recommend you saunter on over and see what all this hallaballoo is all about for yourself!

Check it out!

Its Like Super Wal-Mart Online!

Now that it is the second half of the semester I am going to switch to a new blog topic. The topic is personalized start up pages and it is HOT! This aggregates all of your coolest web 2.0 tschnology and puts it all in one convenient spot so you can access it from any computer (if you opt to put in your web address). I do think its like Super Wal-Mart in the sense that all of your previously separate sites are now in one place (just like the concept of one-stop shopping-only better because this costs you NO money). I checked out http://netvibes.com and ended up setting up my own personalized start up page there. Netvibes is a smaller personalized start up page site (as compared to Yahoo or Google which also offer the service). However, netvibes was described as being a very up and coming site so that is why I chose to check it out first. These are the awesome features you can enjoy by setting up your personalized page with them:

-RSS feed
-E-bay
-Del.icio.us
-bookmarks
-local weather
-webnotes to yourself
-calendar
-blog, web and video searching
-several e-mail services (ex-Yahoo)
-Meeboo for IMing
-flicker photos
-writely documents (to share academic articles with a team member)
-web storage (to store your files online and leave more room in your computer)
-blogmarks
-bookmarks
-Alexa traffic (view traffic on several domains at once in the form of a line graph)
-AOL
-Digg (top stories)
-Fox Sports Video
-MySpace
-Netvibes news
-Techcrunch (techie related news)
-everyone on netvibes tagged photos

This site was easy to set up and offers lots of new web 2.0 technology to explore! I love the idea of being able to go to just one place to have access to all of these different tools! It makes life just a little bit easier...and a little bit more fun: when you think of it in terms of a shopping analogy, how could it not be?

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week
Bob Thome is interviewed for Grid Today, an online publication concerned with grid computing issues and advancement. Grid Today would be an excellent source of information for anyone interested in following the evolution of this potentially life-changing technology.

In the interview, Bob points out the three key reasons for adopting the technology:
1. Quick information retrieval.
2. Efficient allocation of resources.
3. It saves money.

After considering Bob's reasons I realized that grid commnuting may possibly be the best thing ever to happen in relation to public schools that:
1. Have students with short attention spans that need info NOW
2.Generally have few resources that need to be spread widely among students
3. Are perpetually short on cash

Think of the possibilities for schools. If educational lectures, experiments, field trip opportunities, texts, databases, etc...(the list truly could go on and on) could be shared through out the US and the world than students would no longer be limited by school budget constraints or staff shortages. The world quite literally could be at their fingertips!

NSF - OLPA - News Tip: June 17, 2003

NSF - OLPA - News Tip: June 17, 2003
Here is a real world example of grid computing at its best. During the SARS epidemic in Taiwan, the grid community enabled hospitals across the country and world to be in complete contact with each other. Doctors could share records, x-rays, and other pertinant patient information in order to collaboratively deal with the epidemic. Also, for families of those struck with the deadly virus, the grid offered a way to visit with the afflicted in a safe, virtual environment. Even for patients with family members abroad (if you recall, there were some tourists afflicted and hospitalized in Taiwan) virtual rooms could be created in order to "visit" with the sick family member or have a consultation with the patient's medical entourage.

After reading this real-world application of the grid I thought of some other ideas for the technology. Educationally, students struck by natural disaster (such as hurricane Katrina victims) could use such technology to not get behind in their studies. Virtual classrooms could be set up and students could be linked to these classrooms via the web and the grid. Obviously, students at the collegiate level could use grid technology to participate in live (synchronous) lectures from home. It sure would be nice to have an option to plug into some of our Syracuse classes live-especially if we could also have the option to participate in the classroom discussion (which would be totally possible via the grid). Also, if another serious epidemic ever did strike the world (as the nightly news has recently been so obsessed with theorizing), the grid could enable the world to be connected in order to collaborate on the spread of the disease as well as to work together to more effectively contain its spread. Also, top physicians would be able to communicate with one another to address possible treatments that might help versus those that might hinder. Another media example that could benefit from this technology might be a catastrophic natural event (such as a massive earthquake or volcano). The grid, again, would enable the brightest and best scientists and doctors to stay connected in order to best address the catastrophe and keep the loss of human life to a minimum.

Can you think of any ways grid technology would be a boon to humanity?

Smart Computing-Term Of The Day:

Smart Computing-Term Of The Day:
From the Teeny Atom to Monstrous Computational Capability
Quantum computing uses quantum theory (the study of atomic energy dispersal) to design futuristic computers that will no longer be limited to binary code. These computers will make use of the qubit that is not limited to either a "1" or a "0". The qubit can function as both at the same time, so if the "1" stands for up and the "0" stands for down, than the qubit will be able to stand for both simultaneously. The upshot of all this is computers that will be able tackle complex, involved problem solving quickly and efficiently. As with grid computing, quantum computing also offers the allure of faster database and Web searches.

<< Kerala Education Grid >>

<< Kerala Education Grid >>
Here is an excellent use of grid technology by the Keralan State in India. This grid enables people to receive a quality education regardless of geographic location. The power of this grid is generated by the networks of colleges across India. These colleges unite their computational power and educational force to create an educational institution capable of "draw[ing] from the large volumes of content available or getting generated over the Internet or by the national level projects such as the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning [NPTEL}." With a concerted effort among institutions of higher learning, the Kerala Education Grid will be much like Syracuse University's On-line Education Program-only it will be even more powerful and connected. Imagine the implications for American Universities if such a scenario were to evolve here...think of the diversity in course material that could be offered if you could choose to participate in courses offered from ten major universities at a time! A library science degree, for example, could be tailored to fit a student's every whim because there would be an even wider array of courses available! Think how incredible that would be!