Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Thing 42: Online TV/Movies

The annoying thing about websites that put up tv shows is that they seldom include the first episodes of a series. I wouldn't be buying dvds of a show if I haven't even seen the first episode. I do notice that Hulu put up the pilot of "Chuck," but Castle only has recent episodes, Eastwick has only clips (although ABC has episodes on its own website). Star Trek TOS has all of Seasons 2 & 3, using a link to CBS. I'm mystified; why not S1?

Penguins vs. Panthers: wonder what a "condensed game" to the tune of 20 minutes is? OTOH, it could be the entirety of the action these days!

If there's something I've missed on tv, I usually go to the network website. Mostly I don't, because the couch is more comfy than my computer desk chair. Maybe I'll do this when I learn how to hook up the laptop to watch Hulu programs on tv -- there's a reason I bought a 32" television, after all. And that's going to happen some time after I learn how to program the dvr to record the same show every week . . .

3. Create a login and set up a queue of items for viewing at a later date.

Yeah, right. I sure will if I ever feel the need for MORE tv.

3. What do you think the impact of free Internet video entertainment will be on broadcast or cable TV?

Almost none, unless netbooks become ubiquitous (likely) and wifi conections get good enough to watch streaming video in such huge files (not holding my breath). People want to see their favorite shows in order, as soon as possible. I do know people who dl their faves from itunes for money, and loads of people who dl tv from the internets.

Thing 41: Mashup Your Life

Um, no. Just no.

Since I refuse to use Twitter, Facebook, or read my Google Reader, this definitely does not work for me. I'm all for lessening my digital footprint, not making it bigger. There's only time for two hobbies, and while I use social media websites in the commission of both, Using Social Media is not one of those hobbies.

Although . . . I did get a good laugh out of Profilactic. Name choice: good or bad?

Thing 45: Cloud Computing

I was listening to Ken Auletta, author of Googled: The End Of The World As We Know It on NPR a couple weeks ago and he provided an extremely succinct definition of cloud computing. Any time I'm accessing the processing power of other people's servers, that's cloud computing. So whether I'm blogging, using email (cause all the action's taking place on somebody else's servers, even if I'm paying my own ISP instead of using Yahoo or Google), storing photos on Flickr or SmugMug, taking part in any internet-based game or using any software not stored on my CPU, that's cloud computing.

[As an aside, I was really intrigued to learn how Google ranks their hits.]

I had to laugh at the idea that cloud computing improves my productivity. Um, no, but it certainly is a fabulous social enhancement/time sink.

Also, calling it "cloud computing" obscures how basic the idea is. It's like renting space/production facilities in somebody else's warehouse. The Tame The Web blogger points out questions like, "How do you trust Google to keep your information secure?" or "What if you can’t get on the Web?" Those answers, I suspect, are much the same as when you're renting somebody else's warehouse. 1. Take away the keys, i.e. encrypt it 2. Tough bananas. If you can't get on the Web, you're probably not in a situation where you can access your own computer, either. If you can access your own computer, why isn't the stuff ON it? Don't you believe in backup?

My question is, what about when the warehouse burns down? The info isn't in a cloud, it's on somebody's machine. I guess that like the answer to 2, you can't do cloud computing without backing up -- put your materials in several places.

Thing 40: Mashup The Web

I live in a very safe area, but I also think our local authorities don't report to crimereports.com.

I liked the restaurant-finder, Lunchbox.

The video on how web mashups are developed was genuinely interesting -- although I must admit the idea of net-based ecosystems vs operating system based ecosystems made my head explode. :) I take it that adding photos to Google Earth is some kind of a mashup, or doesn't it count as a mashup if the application was created by Google for one of its own products in the first place?

Friday, November 20, 2009

Thing 38: Screencasting

"How Scholarly Search Engines Differ"

I'd have to watch this presentation several times to get all the information, as it went so fast -- except I don't want to. Watching the cursor move when it wasn't under my own control -- and therefore ignored, as such, except for the endpoint -- nauseated me. I knew I had problems with motion sickness, but this is ridiculous.

Most of the MoreThings links were broken or the articles/videos/screencasts used formats I can't access on my work computer. Yes, I have at various times asked IT to update my computer. Newer versions of Java, Flash, and who knows what else don't work for me. "A Quick Guide to Screencasting for Libraries" helped. The Smashing Magazine display in my IE6 (unless it's supposed to look like that) was amusing and annoying with its one-word-per-line on the left side of the screen.

I tried to watch examples on ScreenToaster, but maybe you have to be logged in to see any of them?

I can see how screencasting could be very useful if incorporated into the library's catalog, especially with the new and exciting AquaBrowser.