Friday, August 1, 2008
The Razzle-Dazzle Resume
Writing a resume as a student is vastly different from writing one at the end of a college career, when you stand “ready” to face the world diploma in hand. During college most students are attempting to find jobs and volunteer work to use as underpinning for their education, pursuing experience over reimbursement, and contacts and connections over status.
If you plan to be a kindergarten teacher but work in a daycare is shredding your nerves and leaving you drained and moody rather than fulfilled and enriched it would be a good idea to change paths and approach something more fulfilling and personally enjoyable.
Job loyalty to a specific place for several years in a row because of the excellent interaction is common, but it is important to continue to branch out, partly to fill that resume, but also to make sure that the end goal coincides with something we can be happy and fulfilled doing. My first job out of high school was working at a NACA camp (National Association of Christian Athletes) I worked both in the counseling, event planning and foodservice and was able to work directly with thousands of young people. Since my eventual goal was to teach this was a great opportunity, the only problem was I stayed with it for too long. Three years in fact! At the end of last summer I found myself face first in a seventy-five gallon steam vat scrubbing out the remains of dinner’s spaghetti sauce and found myself wondering what on earth does this have to do with teaching? Sure, perseverance had a lot to do with it, but I think I persevered. Three years of spaghetti every Monday is the NACA definition of perseverance!
This summer I am working at a job that combines every element of what I am going to be doing after graduation. I will never forget the first week working here in the library, I was already deep into inventory and back in the stacks a student (my age) came to me with a question. I followed her to her computer and explained what she needed to know, and walked back to work. Inside however my feet never touched the ground, and at the end of the day I felt like I had really accomplished something beyond feeding hundreds of kids a spaghetti dinner, because I had taught someone something they hadn’t known before, something they could use every day. And I knew, more than ever before that this was what I was meant to do.
Another important element I have learned here this summer is how education is changing because of the internet, social networking, Web 2.0 and the increasing wealth of internet books, articles and databases. Working in technical services the second part of this summer I have been able to explore how the ever changing resources on the web can be channeled and harnessed into a unique individual learning experience.
So, when finding jobs to conquer, committees to head and volunteer work to help keep your faith in mankind alive keep in mind the slots of your resume, especially while still in college. The most important slot of all to remember in college is the “Objective” slot; this slot is what the potential employer is going to look at first, and where they are going to see what you want to do with your life.
When I was in high school all the juniors were given a green and gold tassel, as a sign of something to look forward to. These tassels hung in cars as we drove to and from school, football games and study groups. They dangled from our lamps when we burnt the midnight oil on research papers and (ick) trigonometry. They were a symbol of the day when we would move our “official” tassels from one side of those cheesy hats to the other and step out into adulthood. Now that I am in college my “Objective” slot on my resume is my tassel, and I know the day when my resume, complete with my bachelors degree (hey, maybe even a masters) emblazoned across the education section hits the desks of every potential employer will be one of the proudest days of my life!
In the meantime, continue to do what you love, and love it enough that you keep working towards that end goal. Sites like Monster.com and Jobsearch.about.com have valuable tips in creating a well rounded resume, and GoogleDocs has several great resume templates to work with. I am currently creating one on there right now; perhaps I will share it with all of you!
Some important things to remember:
· If you post links to websites such as Myspace.com or a blogging site (Blogspot, Xanga, Twitter) be sure to scan your content through an employers eyes. Remove any slightly less than tasteful photos or slightly cruel “satire” from your blogs. These sites can be very useful for networking, showing a working list of where you have worked and what educational goals you have. Remember, one out of turn sentence or racy photo could ruin chances. If you don’t include these websites make sure they are set to private to ensure your anonymity when your employer checks your background.
· Always have someone you trust read your resume before you send it out. After spending as much time with it as you are sure to have done you may be too close to it to see any mistakes. A spelling or grammatical error could go a long way toward ruining your prospects.
· Keep it up to date! Don’t reuse the same tired resume you have been toting around since freshman year, or since you just graduated. Keep numbers, addresses and references current, and try to make it a goal to add something new every quarter.
· Don’t just send in hard copies! Sites such as Monster.com and Chattanoogahasjobs.com are wonderful resources for prospective employers. Don’t overlook the vast resources the internet offers you!
· Put your personal stamp on your resume. Don’t go overboard but try to project who and what you are into your words. This resume will probably be a basis for your interview, so have a smooth flow with your achievements not lumped into one spot, but spread evenly through the whole document.
Good luck!
Hana Grace
Monday, July 28, 2008
This is my first adventure with Animoto, and I am so hooked! Included in this video are some candids of staff and students here at the Chattanooga State Augusta R. Kolwyck library, and my fellow blogger and library worker Adam (http://adambeavers.blogspot.com/) all set to music and spliced, diced and danceable! Check it out, then go check out Animoto.com, where you can make your own 30 second videos for free, or make full length ones for a reasonable subscription cost. I will be making many more, and posting them everywhere, so keep your eyes peeled!
Have fun with it! Until next time,
yours
Hana
Have fun with it! Until next time,
yours
Hana
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Txt Speak
In a text message (txt mssg) certain SMS abbreviations are used. Like any vernacular these expressions can change from locale to locale and even from friend group to friend group. Some txtrs prefer to spell out complete words; others use as many abbreviations as possible to save time and effort. Still others txt their thumbs off, using both abbreviations and full words depending on the speed necessary for sending a specific message.
There are two forms of input when txting, manual input (using the letter keys, thus 2 would be ABC, so forth) or iTap, a program that guesses which word you are going to use and inputs it automatically, after you enter the first few characters. I personally prefer manual input, just because the words I sometimes use in a txt mssg are not readily found in iTap but it is strictly up to the user.
Some phones, such as the Nokia 9500, the Samsung Glyde and, of course the iPhone have a full keyboard built in, good for the gadget loving and awesome for those that need a keyboard to type anything.
Txt speak utilizes numbers and symbols to rapidly say what needs to be said. Emoticons such as :) and :( :p :D and ;) are widely used. Numbers also replace parts of words, especially 2, 4, and 8.
For instance:
Im going 2b 2 l8t 4 movie
(I’m going to be too late for the movie)
L8t, L8tr, Gr8, Gr8tr, sk8, sk8tr, all are used.
Abbreviations are also used; many are unique to certain groups.
My friends use OMW a lot, which means “on my way”. I haven’t seen this outside my certain friends group.
IDK means “I don’t know” BRB means “Be right back” LMN means “Let me know” MVT means “Movie times”
To purport more of something x2 and up can be used, or x someone of note, or at least notoriety. For instance “xchucknorris” So, it could be “movie rcked xchucknorris!”
Use any abbreviation once and your friends will learn it, and you might even become “famous” for starting something! Leave a letter out if you can do without it, 4nstance…
Just have fun with it!
Next time I am going to look at SMS or "txt" speak and see what language barriers it is transcending...
But in the meantime, happy txting!
There are two forms of input when txting, manual input (using the letter keys, thus 2 would be ABC, so forth) or iTap, a program that guesses which word you are going to use and inputs it automatically, after you enter the first few characters. I personally prefer manual input, just because the words I sometimes use in a txt mssg are not readily found in iTap but it is strictly up to the user.
Some phones, such as the Nokia 9500, the Samsung Glyde and, of course the iPhone have a full keyboard built in, good for the gadget loving and awesome for those that need a keyboard to type anything.
Txt speak utilizes numbers and symbols to rapidly say what needs to be said. Emoticons such as :) and :( :p :D and ;) are widely used. Numbers also replace parts of words, especially 2, 4, and 8.
For instance:
Im going 2b 2 l8t 4 movie
(I’m going to be too late for the movie)
L8t, L8tr, Gr8, Gr8tr, sk8, sk8tr, all are used.
Abbreviations are also used; many are unique to certain groups.
My friends use OMW a lot, which means “on my way”. I haven’t seen this outside my certain friends group.
IDK means “I don’t know” BRB means “Be right back” LMN means “Let me know” MVT means “Movie times”
To purport more of something x2 and up can be used, or x someone of note, or at least notoriety. For instance “xchucknorris” So, it could be “movie rcked xchucknorris!”
Use any abbreviation once and your friends will learn it, and you might even become “famous” for starting something! Leave a letter out if you can do without it, 4nstance…
Just have fun with it!
Next time I am going to look at SMS or "txt" speak and see what language barriers it is transcending...
But in the meantime, happy txting!
:)
Hana
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
On the Flip Side...
There was an average of 207.9 million cell phone users in America in 2005, according to Infoworld.com. I am one of this number, and among my wide friend pool I have only one friend who doesn’t have a cell phone, or at least use one on a regular basis.
I was talking to someone the other day while programming some important days into my calendar, and they crossly said:
“I remember the days when a phone was just a phone”.
And a phone may just be a phone, but a cell phone, by definition of its very mobility and access makes it much more than that. Try driving somewhere unfamiliar and late at night without it and see how safe you feel! The generation of touch-tone phones and huge belled brass alarm clocks are behind us, my generation uses our phones to remind us of important days, communicate with friends, colleagues and businesses, for entertainment, as a calculator, a notepad, a music player, a camera, as a blogging tool and an email device.
We send text messages to each other, having abbreviated “conversations” exchanging information such as movie times, test scores, weather conditions, dinner plans, weak knock-knock jokes, or just to let the recipient know they are cared for.
We send text messages to GOOGLE (466453) with restaurant names or movies and GOOGLE texts us back addresses, numbers and show times.
We can activate our phone number on Facebook and directly upload pictures from our phones to the site, send messages, and update our statuses from one small keypad.
We can download games onto our phones (I have Bejeweled and Ms. Pac Man) and music, either to play when our phone rings (as a ringtone) or to play over the line when someone tries to reach you (a ringback tone). If you have more than one ringback tone you can make a jukebox and have random tones play on shuffle from call to call, or you can personalize individual tones to individuals own musical preferences.
You can also set different ringtones straight from your phone to ring for different people. For instance, one of my friends is a Tenacious D lyric, another, the chorus from a Pink Floyd song, and another a cheesy single from Boys Love Girls. This way, you can tell who is calling you without even picking up your phone!
We can program in phone numbers for friends, family and work, and create groups of people to send a mass text message to at once. This year for spring break I travelled down to St. Augustine with one of my friends, since they don’t all Twitter I kept them updated by sending a mass text to my “close friends” group. I have also utilized this feature to send out party invites, movie plans/times, and for a “school” group, test times, reading assignments, and class cancellations (woot!).
In case of emergencies something to be aware of, your phone can send a 911 call even if there is no available signal, and the dispatchers should be able to track the call and send help. In the light of several tragedies at schools, such as the Columbine shootings, and the Virginia Tech tragedy some schools have prepared an emergency text alert system to warn students of danger via their cell phones. Not all schools offer this program, but not all students are aware of it even if they do, so be sure to check into the likely possibility that yours or your student’s school has this program.
I have already hit on the benefits of the online “mini blogging” program Twitter, but it is worth mentioning again. I daily reap benefits from this amazing phone accessible program, from getting a great quote for this very blog, or hearing weather reports from a neighbor before I attempted to leave campus during a storm.
Just as it is with any evolving interface, the cell phone adapts to its user. However much you want to use it, and for whatever purpose is up to the individual, just be aware, and try to get excited about the wide spectrum of uses it presents.
I was talking to someone the other day while programming some important days into my calendar, and they crossly said:
“I remember the days when a phone was just a phone”.
And a phone may just be a phone, but a cell phone, by definition of its very mobility and access makes it much more than that. Try driving somewhere unfamiliar and late at night without it and see how safe you feel! The generation of touch-tone phones and huge belled brass alarm clocks are behind us, my generation uses our phones to remind us of important days, communicate with friends, colleagues and businesses, for entertainment, as a calculator, a notepad, a music player, a camera, as a blogging tool and an email device.
We send text messages to each other, having abbreviated “conversations” exchanging information such as movie times, test scores, weather conditions, dinner plans, weak knock-knock jokes, or just to let the recipient know they are cared for.
We send text messages to GOOGLE (466453) with restaurant names or movies and GOOGLE texts us back addresses, numbers and show times.
We can activate our phone number on Facebook and directly upload pictures from our phones to the site, send messages, and update our statuses from one small keypad.
We can download games onto our phones (I have Bejeweled and Ms. Pac Man) and music, either to play when our phone rings (as a ringtone) or to play over the line when someone tries to reach you (a ringback tone). If you have more than one ringback tone you can make a jukebox and have random tones play on shuffle from call to call, or you can personalize individual tones to individuals own musical preferences.
You can also set different ringtones straight from your phone to ring for different people. For instance, one of my friends is a Tenacious D lyric, another, the chorus from a Pink Floyd song, and another a cheesy single from Boys Love Girls. This way, you can tell who is calling you without even picking up your phone!
We can program in phone numbers for friends, family and work, and create groups of people to send a mass text message to at once. This year for spring break I travelled down to St. Augustine with one of my friends, since they don’t all Twitter I kept them updated by sending a mass text to my “close friends” group. I have also utilized this feature to send out party invites, movie plans/times, and for a “school” group, test times, reading assignments, and class cancellations (woot!).
In case of emergencies something to be aware of, your phone can send a 911 call even if there is no available signal, and the dispatchers should be able to track the call and send help. In the light of several tragedies at schools, such as the Columbine shootings, and the Virginia Tech tragedy some schools have prepared an emergency text alert system to warn students of danger via their cell phones. Not all schools offer this program, but not all students are aware of it even if they do, so be sure to check into the likely possibility that yours or your student’s school has this program.
I have already hit on the benefits of the online “mini blogging” program Twitter, but it is worth mentioning again. I daily reap benefits from this amazing phone accessible program, from getting a great quote for this very blog, or hearing weather reports from a neighbor before I attempted to leave campus during a storm.
Just as it is with any evolving interface, the cell phone adapts to its user. However much you want to use it, and for whatever purpose is up to the individual, just be aware, and try to get excited about the wide spectrum of uses it presents.
Monday, July 21, 2008
This Side of your Cell Phone...
What do you use your phone for? I am aware that I have already hit on this several times before, but I am so excited about the myriad ways that a cell phone can increase effectiveness, both scholastically and personally, that there is but a slim chance that I am going to shut up about it anytime soon!
I have only had my cell phone for about two years, and I have kept my original one (no upgrades or disasters yet). However, many of my friends employ the “grass is greener” outlook when it comes to their phone, always hoping for a faster, sleeker, button-ier model to come along and sweep them off their feet. Still, taking an example from their quick turnover rate I have learned to extract all the “awesome” from my phone and harness it for good, rather than evil.
Some important things to consider before you get your phone. First, who are you going to be talking to? The two major phone providers, Cingular/AT&T and Verizon allow you to talk for free to people within their network. They typically also offer free or diminished weekend rates, starting around nine PM on Fridays. So, from a student perspective I would look around your “group” suss out which network they subscribe to and pick the biggest pool. The free weekend minutes are handy for calling home or keeping up with long distance relationships. For a business person or for a graduate prowling for a job the choice may be simpler. The company or organization that you work for may provide you with a phone and network, or you may simply keep your phone from college. Then it can be used more for networking and interviews than pizza ordering and late night plans.
Next, what phone are you going to go with? There has been a lot of buzz centered on the new iPhone, especially with the decreased pricing and huge ad campaign. According to one of my fellow Twitteroos, Kent Callison, the Marketing Director for Decosimo CPA who just landed the new iPhone:
“Beautiful design, paradigm shifting interface and every communication
tool you will ever need - that's iPhone. No other phone comes close.”
First you might want to actually look at the service providers behind the phone. Cingular/AT&T powers the Blackberry (phone/day planner/everything but the kitchen sink) which has been embraced by many as a feasible way to bring work and entertainment with them wherever, whenever. They are also the provider for the much celebrated iPhone which promotes the thought that perhaps AT&T is geared more towards the serious business person or tech geek.
Then you look at Verizon, which has launched Vcast, a service that allows users to download mp3 music to their phones and listen to it wherever they go. Also, it is constantly premiering swank new phones with luscious colors and extra gadgets, and perhaps serves a more youth oriented, edgy “in today out tomorrow, looking for the next big thing” kind of service. Both services offer detailed coverage maps, so I suggest making sure you can actually “hear me now” with whichever plan you end up with. I chose Verizon because I had a little signal on the mountain I grew up on and also because most of my friends subscribe to the same network.
There are of course more than two networks to choose from, Sprint, T-mobile and Cricket to name a few, but AT&T and Verizon are the most recognized and used, and also the two I am most familiar with. And now that I have (hopefully) lain the necessary groundwork, we can go on to the myriad uses and entertainments your phone has to offer, be it a lowly flip phone, or the exalted iPhone!
See you on the “flip” side…
Hana
Friday, July 18, 2008
From the tin can telephone to...what?
When I was little, my siblings and I were obsessed by making every day things out of junk. It didn’t matter if these things were already lying around the house. We didn’t want the ukulele that my mother brought back from her senior trip to Hawaii; we wanted to make one of our own out of scraps of wood and some bright red rubber bands. The cute little doll house (plastic) held no appeal for us; we preferred the big sloppy one we made out of a tomato box, shingled with real mini shingles. So what if our ukulele sounded seriously twangy, or that our doll family’s roof caved in after a week? We were making something all our own! Of course, these fabrications led us to the classic tin can telephone. We didn’t stop at a couple of pork n’ beans cans, we tried cardboard orange juice concentrate cans, coffee cans, even a couple of “well scrubbed” paint cans that still left paint gobbed in our hair.
This early fascination with the many genres of communication can be seen mirrored in the Instant Messaging world. With over a dozen kinds of IM out there (Aim, Skype, Jabber, eBuddy, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, QQ, Xfire, Paltalk) IM users everywhere seem to just continue perpetuating their youthful “tin can telephone” interests.
When you consider the many evolved forms of communication out there, including email, telephone, cellular phone, fax, telegraph and good old snail mail, IM seems to be the child of a little portion of each technology.
IM can be used as a mini email, or a text conversation that takes the place of a phone conversation, and can cover huge divides in seconds. Many IM services allow you to share files, photos and even music between two users, and some even include video IM capabilities, so you can carry on a “face to face” conversation. Rather than keeping IM chained to your computer, you can direct IM’s straight to your cellular phone, and keep the conversation going. An extra perk that most services offer is creating an avatar or “WeeMee” to share emoticons and moods, allowing the digital image to relate the feelings of the conversation.
IM can be used to update Twitter as well, if you have AIM you can add “Twitter” as a contact and if someone says something so dashed witty you never want to forget it, and MUST share it you can simply send it to your Twitter, to be remembered "forever" or at least fifteen seconds :)
Still, looking back at the fun I had with my siblings making our tin can telephones, the best times we had were making them together. Try not to become so immersed into the many exciting modes of communication that you forget the charm of face to face interaction
This early fascination with the many genres of communication can be seen mirrored in the Instant Messaging world. With over a dozen kinds of IM out there (Aim, Skype, Jabber, eBuddy, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, QQ, Xfire, Paltalk) IM users everywhere seem to just continue perpetuating their youthful “tin can telephone” interests.
When you consider the many evolved forms of communication out there, including email, telephone, cellular phone, fax, telegraph and good old snail mail, IM seems to be the child of a little portion of each technology.
IM can be used as a mini email, or a text conversation that takes the place of a phone conversation, and can cover huge divides in seconds. Many IM services allow you to share files, photos and even music between two users, and some even include video IM capabilities, so you can carry on a “face to face” conversation. Rather than keeping IM chained to your computer, you can direct IM’s straight to your cellular phone, and keep the conversation going. An extra perk that most services offer is creating an avatar or “WeeMee” to share emoticons and moods, allowing the digital image to relate the feelings of the conversation.
IM can be used to update Twitter as well, if you have AIM you can add “Twitter” as a contact and if someone says something so dashed witty you never want to forget it, and MUST share it you can simply send it to your Twitter, to be remembered "forever" or at least fifteen seconds :)
Still, looking back at the fun I had with my siblings making our tin can telephones, the best times we had were making them together. Try not to become so immersed into the many exciting modes of communication that you forget the charm of face to face interaction
Friday, July 11, 2008
Blog in a Bottle
If you throw a rock out into an ocean or lake you will probably never see it again, but the ripples it makes are visible for a few moments. When I began blogging I thought that it would be like that, a momentary ripple and then the words would be swallowed up by the massive “waters” of the internet. Instead, I received a pretty broad reaction. Complete strangers read my blogs and shared kind thoughts and reactions, and much needed criticism. I started to wonder, was this how a writer felt? Was this a tiny taste of the pie I was working for?
Today, I have five “full” blogs, one each on MySpace, Facebook, and Xanga, this very one I am working on now, and another BlogSpot blog, Starshinethousand.blogspot.com. I also have three “Micro” blogs, a Twitter I update from my phone on day to day life and a library Twitter that I update for this blog, then my QuillPill that I started because of this blog. A long and somewhat ragged list, longer than I had earlier thought! Still, I keep most of them constantly updated, along with reading subscriptions from other people’s blogs.
I know many of my friends that also keep up this constantly reeling list of blogs, some with the added task of Photoblogging and Musicblogging.
Why do we feel the need to throw so many “rocks”? And to throw them into so many ponds at the same time, until the ponds are more like puddles? This has to do some with the themes I explored when researching Twitter, themes of voyeurism, fame and exposure. Writers have been publishing under pseudonyms for years. I am currently reading a book called Behind a Mask, the Unpublished Works of Louisa May Alcott. Before Louisa became famous for Little Women and Little Men she wrote scintillating mysteries for dime magazines, the literary equivalent of modern day tabloids. Because of her sex and status as a writer she published under various romantic pseudonyms such as A.M. Barnard.
The web-blogger can also easily hold this enviable status, and write freely on any subject, from steamy gossip to political barbs, to cozy collections of recipes and reminisces.
Scholastically, a blog is a wonderful tool for any student. As an English major I find it is a great vehicle for posting short stories, and inspirational snippets for my fellow writers. I also find myself doing an updated “chain letter” and doing periodical catch ups for my farther away friends. Artists and musicians can utilize it to spread their work, computer programmers and web designers can use it like a huge online business card, and communications majors can hone their job skills for potential job offers. A blog can be like a living resume, a place to learn and grow an art, or simply a place to shamelessly emote, regardless of who sees it.
This blog is a great example of this tool. I am not a web designer, I haven’t created some fabulous Web 2.0 social networking site, nor do I know all there is to know about the origins of these sites, but through research and hands on work I am slowly learning more and more about a new era that I am a part of, and that will be forever valuable to me someday as a teacher.
So, more than a rock thrown into the massive “waters” of the internet, a blog can be a message in a bottle. Sometimes it may return at your feet, full of responses and applause, and sometimes you may never see it again, but by simply putting it out there you have stirred up a few ripples.
Today, I have five “full” blogs, one each on MySpace, Facebook, and Xanga, this very one I am working on now, and another BlogSpot blog, Starshinethousand.blogspot.com. I also have three “Micro” blogs, a Twitter I update from my phone on day to day life and a library Twitter that I update for this blog, then my QuillPill that I started because of this blog. A long and somewhat ragged list, longer than I had earlier thought! Still, I keep most of them constantly updated, along with reading subscriptions from other people’s blogs.
I know many of my friends that also keep up this constantly reeling list of blogs, some with the added task of Photoblogging and Musicblogging.
Why do we feel the need to throw so many “rocks”? And to throw them into so many ponds at the same time, until the ponds are more like puddles? This has to do some with the themes I explored when researching Twitter, themes of voyeurism, fame and exposure. Writers have been publishing under pseudonyms for years. I am currently reading a book called Behind a Mask, the Unpublished Works of Louisa May Alcott. Before Louisa became famous for Little Women and Little Men she wrote scintillating mysteries for dime magazines, the literary equivalent of modern day tabloids. Because of her sex and status as a writer she published under various romantic pseudonyms such as A.M. Barnard.
The web-blogger can also easily hold this enviable status, and write freely on any subject, from steamy gossip to political barbs, to cozy collections of recipes and reminisces.
Scholastically, a blog is a wonderful tool for any student. As an English major I find it is a great vehicle for posting short stories, and inspirational snippets for my fellow writers. I also find myself doing an updated “chain letter” and doing periodical catch ups for my farther away friends. Artists and musicians can utilize it to spread their work, computer programmers and web designers can use it like a huge online business card, and communications majors can hone their job skills for potential job offers. A blog can be like a living resume, a place to learn and grow an art, or simply a place to shamelessly emote, regardless of who sees it.
This blog is a great example of this tool. I am not a web designer, I haven’t created some fabulous Web 2.0 social networking site, nor do I know all there is to know about the origins of these sites, but through research and hands on work I am slowly learning more and more about a new era that I am a part of, and that will be forever valuable to me someday as a teacher.
So, more than a rock thrown into the massive “waters” of the internet, a blog can be a message in a bottle. Sometimes it may return at your feet, full of responses and applause, and sometimes you may never see it again, but by simply putting it out there you have stirred up a few ripples.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
First Twittering and Tweeting, Now Scrobbling and Syncing
Music is really hard for me to write about. Every summer I set myself a writing assignment, just to keep my pen in. Last summer it was to write about the bands I love, the songs I love and what they all mean to me. As a project it failed miserably. At the time I had no clue why. A friend that was an even more adoring music fan than me (if that’s possible) shared this quote from Elvis Costello with me “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture - it's a really stupid thing to want to do." A year later, having read a lot of music reviews and super interesting books on musicians I can only agree with part of that quote…for me it’s a really stupid thing to do! But here I am going to try and write about enjoying and sharing music, not about music itself so maybe I can squeeze by.
The music tracking program Last.Fm quite simply tracks what you listen too, and suggests bands, genres, and similar listeners for you to connect with. Some bands offer free downloads of their music, and as your fave bands emerge Last.Fm creates an online streaming personalized “radio station” for you to listen too. Another cool feature is for every song you listen to a band bio, similar bands, and even upcoming concert details appears in the window. The best part is that the whole deal is completely free!
Unlike Facebook or MySpace, sites that necessitate constant updating, tweaking and upkeep Last.Fm is completely automated, all you have to do is download the software and continue listening like you always have. Then again you can take the recommendations and free downloads and utilize them to grow and expand your musical tastes.
Each song you listen to on your music player (I use an iPod) is played back to the server or “scrobbled”. Since I joined Last.Fm in August of last year I have scrobbled 21,958 tracks, and seen the axis of my musical world tilting and shifting into new levels. Looking back at my weekly charts from the beginning I was listening to Good Charlotte, Weezer, Kings of Leon and Breaking Benjamin. Almost a year later I am still listening to Weezer, but I have also discovered local bands such as the Features, Senryu and Coral Castles. I was also pointed towards Radiohead, the Beetles, Queen, Regina Spektor and Belle and Sebastian.
Last.Fm, though not completely responsible for my shift from fluffy, main stream normalcy to classic, indie original tunes helped direct a completely naïve “music lover” toward some music worthy of my super angst.
Last.Fm includes some great tools to expand your networking by comparing your musical tastes. Widgets for your Myspace, BlogSpot or Facebook are great for finding common ground. I also think music facilitates a great learning environment, and Last.Fm has a great online radio station that allows you to type in your favorite artist and then hear song after song from the artist, and similar musicians, a great way to pass the time while toiling away on Elearn. For instance, type in “Radiohead” and you will get Smashing Pumpkins, Cold Play, Incubus…and many more. All of this is free, but for very little you could subscribe to Last.Fm and have a broader range of radio stations.
So, just like any “obsession” you can take it as far as you want to go, but Last.Fm is truly a social revolution.
http://www.last.fm/
http://www.last.fm/user/Moodringeyes/
The music tracking program Last.Fm quite simply tracks what you listen too, and suggests bands, genres, and similar listeners for you to connect with. Some bands offer free downloads of their music, and as your fave bands emerge Last.Fm creates an online streaming personalized “radio station” for you to listen too. Another cool feature is for every song you listen to a band bio, similar bands, and even upcoming concert details appears in the window. The best part is that the whole deal is completely free!
Unlike Facebook or MySpace, sites that necessitate constant updating, tweaking and upkeep Last.Fm is completely automated, all you have to do is download the software and continue listening like you always have. Then again you can take the recommendations and free downloads and utilize them to grow and expand your musical tastes.
Each song you listen to on your music player (I use an iPod) is played back to the server or “scrobbled”. Since I joined Last.Fm in August of last year I have scrobbled 21,958 tracks, and seen the axis of my musical world tilting and shifting into new levels. Looking back at my weekly charts from the beginning I was listening to Good Charlotte, Weezer, Kings of Leon and Breaking Benjamin. Almost a year later I am still listening to Weezer, but I have also discovered local bands such as the Features, Senryu and Coral Castles. I was also pointed towards Radiohead, the Beetles, Queen, Regina Spektor and Belle and Sebastian.
Last.Fm, though not completely responsible for my shift from fluffy, main stream normalcy to classic, indie original tunes helped direct a completely naïve “music lover” toward some music worthy of my super angst.
Last.Fm includes some great tools to expand your networking by comparing your musical tastes. Widgets for your Myspace, BlogSpot or Facebook are great for finding common ground. I also think music facilitates a great learning environment, and Last.Fm has a great online radio station that allows you to type in your favorite artist and then hear song after song from the artist, and similar musicians, a great way to pass the time while toiling away on Elearn. For instance, type in “Radiohead” and you will get Smashing Pumpkins, Cold Play, Incubus…and many more. All of this is free, but for very little you could subscribe to Last.Fm and have a broader range of radio stations.
So, just like any “obsession” you can take it as far as you want to go, but Last.Fm is truly a social revolution.
http://www.last.fm/
http://www.last.fm/user/Moodringeyes/
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
The next great...Japanese Cell Phone Novel
When was the last time you read a book? When was the last time you checked your cell phone? (Go on, take a minute, and see if you have a new message…)
There is a new form of media that combines the best of both worlds, the Cell Phone Novel. This media is gaining more and more attention, especially in Japan. These books are created not by some author typing away in solitude, but by people of all ages via txt message on busy public transit, in class, or anywhere a quick moment can be stolen away and crystallized into inspiration.
When I began researching this movement I was faced with something I never have before…a clash of cultures forming a wall between myself and something I want to read.
Since I am lucky enough to live and grow up in a country that speaks the most widely recognized language, so far everything I have wished to read or experience has been easily located translated into English. However, since the Cell Phone Novel began in Japan, the most recognized and influential volumes are found in…Japanese!
The Cell Phone Novel found its origins in a Japanese homepage, Maho no i-rando, a program tweaked by savvy programmers when a sudden flood of txt messages creating stories started appearing. The site compiled these messages and the Cell Phone Novel was born. Last year in Japan five of the top ten best sellers began as Cell Phone Novels and due to popular download they were mass published, and quietly infiltrated the traditional author/publisher/reader relationship.
Because of the obvious limitations that exist from writing on a cell phone a Cell Phone Novel is vastly different from your normal book. The author utilizes emoticons such as :) :( :D :P ;), and is able to focus less on setting. This also means that each reader will have a different experience, depending on when and where they read each installment. This new “genre” has caused a quiet uproar from reviewers as they decry the lack of setting, barely developed character and abrupt phrasing. However, since 89% of Americans have a cell phone, and the number of txts sent from month to month is continually increasing, this new form of media may inspire those who are quick to pick up the phone, but slow to pick up a book. Teachers can utilize this new form to connect with their students and encourage them to create using a tool with which they are familiar.
Of course when I was researching all the ways to read novels on my phone I kept running across the Kindle by Amazon. After doing some reading up on this hand-held reader I almost want one! It would be like carrying a library (up to 200 volumes) with me everywhere I go! Still, the price (almost four hundred dollars) and the criticized design (the buttons are all over the place) discouraged me from considering this for too long. Perhaps this conclusion places me alongside the scoffers of the Cell Phone Novel, but the simple pleasure of reading a real book is not one I am going to completely abandon.
The best example I have found in America for our own Cell Phone Novel is QuillPill.com, a site that reminds me of Twitter in a way, minus the chains of replies or direct messages. If I was writing only one Cell Phone Novel as a hobby I would probably create a separate Twitter just for it, but if you want to join QuillPill.com you can send a beta request. I plan on doing this, and you can watch as I struggle to capture the essence of the just out of reach Japanese Cell Phone Novel I am now so intrigued by.
To read more, check out this NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/world/asia/20japan.html
I will add my QuillPill here as soon as my very beseeching invitation request is granted!
Until then...
yours!
Hana G.
*Updated*
here is my QuillPill, ye faithfull followers!
:)
Hana
http://quillpill.com/author/Moodringeyes
There is a new form of media that combines the best of both worlds, the Cell Phone Novel. This media is gaining more and more attention, especially in Japan. These books are created not by some author typing away in solitude, but by people of all ages via txt message on busy public transit, in class, or anywhere a quick moment can be stolen away and crystallized into inspiration.
When I began researching this movement I was faced with something I never have before…a clash of cultures forming a wall between myself and something I want to read.
Since I am lucky enough to live and grow up in a country that speaks the most widely recognized language, so far everything I have wished to read or experience has been easily located translated into English. However, since the Cell Phone Novel began in Japan, the most recognized and influential volumes are found in…Japanese!
The Cell Phone Novel found its origins in a Japanese homepage, Maho no i-rando, a program tweaked by savvy programmers when a sudden flood of txt messages creating stories started appearing. The site compiled these messages and the Cell Phone Novel was born. Last year in Japan five of the top ten best sellers began as Cell Phone Novels and due to popular download they were mass published, and quietly infiltrated the traditional author/publisher/reader relationship.
Because of the obvious limitations that exist from writing on a cell phone a Cell Phone Novel is vastly different from your normal book. The author utilizes emoticons such as :) :( :D :P ;), and is able to focus less on setting. This also means that each reader will have a different experience, depending on when and where they read each installment. This new “genre” has caused a quiet uproar from reviewers as they decry the lack of setting, barely developed character and abrupt phrasing. However, since 89% of Americans have a cell phone, and the number of txts sent from month to month is continually increasing, this new form of media may inspire those who are quick to pick up the phone, but slow to pick up a book. Teachers can utilize this new form to connect with their students and encourage them to create using a tool with which they are familiar.
Of course when I was researching all the ways to read novels on my phone I kept running across the Kindle by Amazon. After doing some reading up on this hand-held reader I almost want one! It would be like carrying a library (up to 200 volumes) with me everywhere I go! Still, the price (almost four hundred dollars) and the criticized design (the buttons are all over the place) discouraged me from considering this for too long. Perhaps this conclusion places me alongside the scoffers of the Cell Phone Novel, but the simple pleasure of reading a real book is not one I am going to completely abandon.
The best example I have found in America for our own Cell Phone Novel is QuillPill.com, a site that reminds me of Twitter in a way, minus the chains of replies or direct messages. If I was writing only one Cell Phone Novel as a hobby I would probably create a separate Twitter just for it, but if you want to join QuillPill.com you can send a beta request. I plan on doing this, and you can watch as I struggle to capture the essence of the just out of reach Japanese Cell Phone Novel I am now so intrigued by.
To read more, check out this NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/world/asia/20japan.html
I will add my QuillPill here as soon as my very beseeching invitation request is granted!
Until then...
yours!
Hana G.
*Updated*
here is my QuillPill, ye faithfull followers!
:)
Hana
http://quillpill.com/author/Moodringeyes
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Hey, MySpace or Yours?
When I was a kid I was always looking for my spot. When I was young it was a tent made out of blankets, which hung around my bunk bed, complete with a handy flashlight so I could still read The Poky Little Puppy. As I grew older it was a tree house, a miniature Indian wigwam built out of small pine trees, my own Coleman pup-tent and finally my first car. Each of these places was all my own, my own sanctuary with either a secret password, a strong knot to bar intruders or a shiny new key.
This desire for a place uniquely our own is a longing that the creators of MySpace understand. They have carefully created a place that parallels this hideout, while including networking, music, blogs, photography, and lucrative ads. They have created a site worth a reported six billion dollars(http://tinyurl.com/6j3vmh).
From a scholastic viewpoint, I have found MySpace to be a valuable tool. Winter of ’07 I took my first Creative Writing class with Professor Bill Teem here at Chattanooga State. After completing each writing assignment and revising it in class workshops, I would post the story on my MySpace blog. (http://tinyurl.com/6djpap) There I would get even more feedback from my MySpace friends. The next semester I took the Advanced Creative Writing course. In this class I was able to share some of my older, improved stories with new friends.
MySpace has also proven to be a great form of communication. In several classes I have taken, my classmates and I communicated through MySpace when we were working on a class project. Sometimes we did this because E-learn was working slowly, but more often it was because we knew the other person was going to check their MySpace, and the message would have no chance of going unread.
Another benefit I especially enjoy with my MySpace is keeping in touch with my older friends. One of the goals I first set in college was to make at least one friend in each class I took, and to keep in touch with that person. Though some of them have graduated, moved or simply changed completely from the time I knew them, MySpace is a friendly medium for us to keep in touch and share about where we are and how our lives are going.
The “arts” section of MySpace is also immensely helpful. As small local bands (http://tinyurl.com/6f3mos) have their own music on their site and they can include show information and news with hopes for the “big break”. These sites are just as important as the written arts that set a pattern in this community. Some of my friends who are incredible amateur photographers (myspace.com/av8tqr) artists, (myspace.com/sourgasm) and playwrights (http://tinyurl.com/6e57ld) can broadcast their work to the masses or just to their friends. Either way, there is so much rich talent ready to be stumbled upon.
In every spot you claim as your space there can be some trouble and sticky situations. I got into trouble for reading past bedtime in my bunk-bed tent, and fell out of my tree house numerous times. I stumbled into a nest of wasps while building my wigwam, almost got sprayed by a skunk in my pup tent, and wrecked my first car.
I have had some bad times on MySpace as well, friends stab each other in the back, ex’s causing drama, and the flood of spam, often pornographic could be disconcerting. However in any situation we adapt. We learn to live and learn to block the unfriendly, filter the mail and make something great out of a simple networking site. We make it a space uniquely our own, a place to blissfully waste hours, and a place to carve a niche for our talent.
MySpace. Where’s yours?
This desire for a place uniquely our own is a longing that the creators of MySpace understand. They have carefully created a place that parallels this hideout, while including networking, music, blogs, photography, and lucrative ads. They have created a site worth a reported six billion dollars(http://tinyurl.com/6j3vmh).
From a scholastic viewpoint, I have found MySpace to be a valuable tool. Winter of ’07 I took my first Creative Writing class with Professor Bill Teem here at Chattanooga State. After completing each writing assignment and revising it in class workshops, I would post the story on my MySpace blog. (http://tinyurl.com/6djpap) There I would get even more feedback from my MySpace friends. The next semester I took the Advanced Creative Writing course. In this class I was able to share some of my older, improved stories with new friends.
MySpace has also proven to be a great form of communication. In several classes I have taken, my classmates and I communicated through MySpace when we were working on a class project. Sometimes we did this because E-learn was working slowly, but more often it was because we knew the other person was going to check their MySpace, and the message would have no chance of going unread.
Another benefit I especially enjoy with my MySpace is keeping in touch with my older friends. One of the goals I first set in college was to make at least one friend in each class I took, and to keep in touch with that person. Though some of them have graduated, moved or simply changed completely from the time I knew them, MySpace is a friendly medium for us to keep in touch and share about where we are and how our lives are going.
The “arts” section of MySpace is also immensely helpful. As small local bands (http://tinyurl.com/6f3mos) have their own music on their site and they can include show information and news with hopes for the “big break”. These sites are just as important as the written arts that set a pattern in this community. Some of my friends who are incredible amateur photographers (myspace.com/av8tqr) artists, (myspace.com/sourgasm) and playwrights (http://tinyurl.com/6e57ld) can broadcast their work to the masses or just to their friends. Either way, there is so much rich talent ready to be stumbled upon.
In every spot you claim as your space there can be some trouble and sticky situations. I got into trouble for reading past bedtime in my bunk-bed tent, and fell out of my tree house numerous times. I stumbled into a nest of wasps while building my wigwam, almost got sprayed by a skunk in my pup tent, and wrecked my first car.
I have had some bad times on MySpace as well, friends stab each other in the back, ex’s causing drama, and the flood of spam, often pornographic could be disconcerting. However in any situation we adapt. We learn to live and learn to block the unfriendly, filter the mail and make something great out of a simple networking site. We make it a space uniquely our own, a place to blissfully waste hours, and a place to carve a niche for our talent.
MySpace. Where’s yours?
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
I am a Twitteroo!
I found Twitter like I have found most things on the internet, in one of my rare bored/adventurous moments. I left the safety of my inbox and my top friends on MySpace and took a look around…and stumbled on Twitter. Wikipedia describes Twitter(in 291 characters) “…as a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" or "tweets", text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter web site, via Twitters web site, short message service (SMS), instant messaging, or a third-party application such as Twitterrific or Facebook.”
The first things I discovered using Twitter were how to respond directly to someone’s post, how to link in a few interested Twitteroos and how to nudge the slacker who had been silent for all of *gasp* five hours! Then, around the time Twitter was first discussed in my creative writing class I started to wonder, why is this so interesting?
I think the voyeuristic element is a big part of it. The ease of access, the idea that you can say whatever you want to say in that neat little 140 character box, and then send it out in the void for someone to either ignore or enjoy means everything. The fact is that it works well enough that organizations and companies such as Dell are using it to respond to customers. During the October 2007 wildfires The LA Fire Department utilized Twitter to communicate. CNN uses it to break news stories. The American Red Cross uses it to exchange minute to minute information about local disasters. Some of these updates have included pertinent statistics and directions, factors that prove that the least insignificant Twitteroo could be a part of something huge.
However, on Twitter a complete stranger could come across your update and decide to follow you, and you could do the same to countless others. On there if your updates start pouring in too fast or trickling in too slowly you could be blocked or ignored. If you do too much griping about how long a line is, how bad that driver that just cut you off was, your fellow Twitters will gladly sweep you under the vast, www rug. So why was anyone interested? What has made this simple mini-blog, real time journal, text-telepathy so interesting?
Personally, the “poet” (stretching it a little ha-ha) in me also appreciated the limitations and the condensing of a thought necessary in each update. The structure and limitations of 140 characters is frustrating sometimes, but at other times it reminds me of the perfect supporting frame of the minimal Haiku. Twitter has been described by some of its aficionados as “mini-blogs” and I think this description also helps capture some of its appeal. If you subscribe to twenty or thirty full length blogs from people whose views, insights and sense of humor appeals to you, then you can expect to spend much of your time attempting to read every update. This can become a struggle before too long, but with Twitter you can follow dozens of people and catch that one concrete thought, idea or news flash in a tidy 140 characters.
In my updates I tend to quote from the books I am reading. I share my plans for the evening, complain about a class or cheer about a good grade. I share my woes about my iron being too low (again) to donate blood, or my 3 AM epiphanies that I won’t remember in the morning. I brought my followers through A-Z in my recent adventures in library inventory, and they know exactly when I have brain freeze. On my Twitter I am following a local lawyer whose certain brand of dry mocking humor I am a fan of; a couple of local bands whose Tweets I longed for during SXSW; an Orientation Leader at UTC who drops interesting behind the scenes tidbits; a woman that calls herself Madolan who seems to be on a constant gypsy like road trip, the “Dude” that only Twitters in Big Lebowski quotes, and my favorite chef/Author, Michael Ruhlman. I also follow a few friends that twitter on school, movies and the lines they are waiting in and the driver that just cut them off.
But that driver was probably just busy Twittering.
Some of the Mentioned Twitteroos:
http://twitter.com/mightyrobeast
http://twitter.com/RedCross
http://twitter.com/madolan
http://twitter.com/OrchardKeeper
http://twitter.com/TwitterLit
http://twitter.com/Lebowski_Quotes
http://twitter.com/kentcallison
The first things I discovered using Twitter were how to respond directly to someone’s post, how to link in a few interested Twitteroos and how to nudge the slacker who had been silent for all of *gasp* five hours! Then, around the time Twitter was first discussed in my creative writing class I started to wonder, why is this so interesting?
I think the voyeuristic element is a big part of it. The ease of access, the idea that you can say whatever you want to say in that neat little 140 character box, and then send it out in the void for someone to either ignore or enjoy means everything. The fact is that it works well enough that organizations and companies such as Dell are using it to respond to customers. During the October 2007 wildfires The LA Fire Department utilized Twitter to communicate. CNN uses it to break news stories. The American Red Cross uses it to exchange minute to minute information about local disasters. Some of these updates have included pertinent statistics and directions, factors that prove that the least insignificant Twitteroo could be a part of something huge.
However, on Twitter a complete stranger could come across your update and decide to follow you, and you could do the same to countless others. On there if your updates start pouring in too fast or trickling in too slowly you could be blocked or ignored. If you do too much griping about how long a line is, how bad that driver that just cut you off was, your fellow Twitters will gladly sweep you under the vast, www rug. So why was anyone interested? What has made this simple mini-blog, real time journal, text-telepathy so interesting?
Personally, the “poet” (stretching it a little ha-ha) in me also appreciated the limitations and the condensing of a thought necessary in each update. The structure and limitations of 140 characters is frustrating sometimes, but at other times it reminds me of the perfect supporting frame of the minimal Haiku. Twitter has been described by some of its aficionados as “mini-blogs” and I think this description also helps capture some of its appeal. If you subscribe to twenty or thirty full length blogs from people whose views, insights and sense of humor appeals to you, then you can expect to spend much of your time attempting to read every update. This can become a struggle before too long, but with Twitter you can follow dozens of people and catch that one concrete thought, idea or news flash in a tidy 140 characters.
In my updates I tend to quote from the books I am reading. I share my plans for the evening, complain about a class or cheer about a good grade. I share my woes about my iron being too low (again) to donate blood, or my 3 AM epiphanies that I won’t remember in the morning. I brought my followers through A-Z in my recent adventures in library inventory, and they know exactly when I have brain freeze. On my Twitter I am following a local lawyer whose certain brand of dry mocking humor I am a fan of; a couple of local bands whose Tweets I longed for during SXSW; an Orientation Leader at UTC who drops interesting behind the scenes tidbits; a woman that calls herself Madolan who seems to be on a constant gypsy like road trip, the “Dude” that only Twitters in Big Lebowski quotes, and my favorite chef/Author, Michael Ruhlman. I also follow a few friends that twitter on school, movies and the lines they are waiting in and the driver that just cut them off.
But that driver was probably just busy Twittering.
Some of the Mentioned Twitteroos:
http://twitter.com/mightyrobeast
http://twitter.com/RedCross
http://twitter.com/madolan
http://twitter.com/OrchardKeeper
http://twitter.com/TwitterLit
http://twitter.com/Lebowski_Quotes
http://twitter.com/kentcallison
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