And now for something completely different...

I know we are still in class but I was making some alterations to my blog and a random thought wandered into my head. If you couldn't tell by one of the gadgets to the right I am a bit of a Star Wars fan and along with this I thought of a particularly cool video that I have come across on occasion and thought I would share. If you enjoy lightsabers and a neat premise behind it (make sure you read the description part) then this type of thing might just tickle your fancy. If you don't care for this sort of thing well then, this isn't the post you are looking for, move along *waves hand in a vaguely Jedi motion*

On a related note to this post, I hope there is no problem if I add in posts of a decidedly non-class nature such as the above. Sometimes I find something neat and most of the time I just have to bore my close friends with it, this does seem like the perfect way to try and bore and even wider group of people!

Images and Tools, Flickr Seems to Have It All!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41522047@N03/3950699247/

When you get a chance look at that photo. I think it is an amazing photo. Maybe its something about all the different greens present or just how nature has totally over-run that building, but it just looks beautiful. I was thinking about how nice it would be to have a picture from the same place back when that building was new. I wonder how much time has actually passed to make it go from what it was to what it has become.

Flickr is a neat tool for sure and having spent some time bumming around the site I can see why people are so attracted to it and take advantage of it. I hope that it remains big because it saddens me to think of it going out of business and people possibly losing all of their pictures. I really wonder what the Flickr people would do if they knew they were going to be shut down. Would they do everything possible to warn people and get them to move their stuff. Do you think another company would quickly jump up into its place and fill the gap?

While looking over the various mashup tools I came across one in particular that seems very interesting and potentially fun or useful.

http://labs.systemone.at/retrievr/

That is the link to it and I encourage you to take a look. The premise is that you can draw in something, anything into the space and then the app will pore over the photos on flickr finding all the photos that could possibly match what you have drawn in. It seems like aside from the random fun factor it could be useful when you have an image in mind but cannot think of what it might be. Maybe you know what a mountain you went climbing on looks like but not what it was called, there is a chance someone else has taken a picture of that same mountain and has tagged it with the name. I personally used it to create a horrid attempt at drawing a dog but I was rewarded with many cute and wonderful pictures of dogs.

Blurb on Technology!

The learning 2.0 suggested that we blog about a bit of technology that interests us. At first I thought well this will be easy to do, but when I sat to think about it I realized just how many different technologies there are and how much cool stuff their is to examine. I felt like there was no end to the things I could write about. So after casting around a little bit I happened to set my eyes upon my friend's PS3 which is currently here (as is his X-Box 360...)

Consoles in general are a fascinating bit of technology when you think about it. Its just a computer that sits below your t.v. (or above it if you have some sort of shelving/like taking a risk) But within these new consoles they are getting to be so much like desktops, they offer special features outside of just playing games or dvds. I really do think that in the next couple evolutions of the consoles we will start to see a melding of normal computers and console. When buying a console you will also be buying a keyboard and mouse and be able to use the console as a normal computer, visiting website, going to facebook, uploading images on flickr. Then you can simple put in your favorite game and plug in a controller and off you go. To me this seems like the natural progression now that consoles are stepping outside of being purely game playing devices.

This also raises the question though of price, as these consoles get more elaborate but the three big companies remain will people be essentially needing to buy three fully operation computer/consoles in order to play all the games they desire or will some kind of compromise be reached. The new and advanced consoles could end up costing even more than the ones that are out in today's market. That seems like an extreme amount of money. If they don't come up with a compromise it would seem that brand loyalty and division would be encouraged further. People won't be able to afford all three and so they will start to stick with only one type and exclude the others.

Is it really possible to learn how to learn in a few easy steps?

Hello again to those who are checking this. I have had a heck of a time catching up with all my work across four classes but this is yet another step in the right direction.

I have finally gotten around to looking at the first two parts of Learning 2.0 and I find that it is an interesting idea for sure. I would like to know just how much time and effort it took to create such a thing. I find it to be pretty fleshed out in general though considering how popular it has become I am not too surprised.

While watching the tutorial I was careful to think about what habits would be hardest and easiest to accomplish. I found myself stuck between the one concerning setting a goal and the habit about learning/mentoring others.

Setting a goal seems like such an easy prospect but at the same time for it to really be effective it seems that you need to really be certain of what you are going for. Otherwise you might fall upon a very vague statement that seems as though it is a good goal but doesn't accurately enough describe what you want to accomplish.

On the flip side I am not sure how I would manage in a teaching or mentoring role. I always feel that such a command and absolute base of knowledge about something is required to teach. I can think of few things that I know so well and thoroughly that I could feel comfortable informing others about.

In terms of easy habits, the top one has to be using technology to your advantage. I feel as though I am tech savvy enough to actually use a lot of technology to help me learn what I need. For my generation at least advanced technology has become the norm, now I am sure the ones below me will be far ahead of me for having started at an even earlier age but I am still confident.


Moving on to a different subject I find it weird to be blogging right now. I had never had much more than an intellectual interest in it. To be actively using it seems a slight bit odd but I feel that I could easily get to the point where it is a normal and frequent part of my life and that is ok. There is something nice about having a large sphere of interaction in which to share your ideas while still being able to maintain a relative amount of anonymity.

To finish up this post I think I should just comment quickly that I am anxious to see how successful this lifelong learning concept comes across in 8 or so weeks. Will certain people cling to it completely and will others come away with nothing? Will we find flaws and as part of becoming or enhancing our life long learning ability actually grow beyond the scope of Learning 2.0 and see things that it really should be addressing but doesn't. I guess we will just have to find out.

Start... there has to be one...

This is a test, a start, and an expansion. I am expanding what I know how to do and what I have experienced. I hope by the end of this I don't classify my attempts as an epic failure...