How might the metaphor of an ‘ecology’ impact on the way you think about, understand or use the Internet?
It is a great metaphor. It has helped me to settle. It is accurate because that is the feeling I get when I am involved with the many levels of the internet. It's a bit like a 'big bang' in that it is evolving, complex and very different to what has come before. But it's a bit short on beauty... the likes of flora and fauna... internet can never replace the prior ecology. I'm glad I was a spectator for part of the transition. I hope I can help to make it a positive part of the future.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Week 12
I was almost driven to 'phone a friend'. I could not find the cover sheet files. I have been looking for weeks on and off. I knew I had seen them when I first read the course notes. But I have been looping around these notes so many times now I was lost. The first thing I did this morning was check one more time. And I found them. Onward and upward! j:)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Week 11
Blogger down for maintenance. Click here for more info. Clicked there and the new info was old info 8.5.09. Came back on and Voila! Back on. .... just another internet time waster!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Module 4_Boolean Search
Peacock and habitat - on Google - 908,000 hits.
Peacock or habitat - on google - 940,000 hits
Peacock not habitat - on Google - 284,00 hits
habitat peacock - on Google - 891,000 hits
peacock habitat - on Google - 888,000 hits
peacock - on Google - 19,800,000 hits
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock
All searches have wikipedia close to the top. There were no university sources on this topic.
All searches gave me a part of what I was looking for. They are native to India and a few other places like Java which I didn't know. But the information is patchy and not that abundant about peacock habitat on the top level internet really. There is nothing leading me to the 'deep web'.
I would save these searches in Explorer's Favourites. If there were too many favourites I would place them in a folder called Peacocks. Really I would search on a 'needs to' basis. The internet itself is the library or resource. Why store everything again? To be honest I would not search for information about peacock habitat in this way. Nothing on the internet seems very reassuring about this topic.
Peacock or habitat - on google - 940,000 hits
Peacock not habitat - on Google - 284,00 hits
habitat peacock - on Google - 891,000 hits
peacock habitat - on Google - 888,000 hits
peacock - on Google - 19,800,000 hits
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock
All searches have wikipedia close to the top. There were no university sources on this topic.
All searches gave me a part of what I was looking for. They are native to India and a few other places like Java which I didn't know. But the information is patchy and not that abundant about peacock habitat on the top level internet really. There is nothing leading me to the 'deep web'.
I would save these searches in Explorer's Favourites. If there were too many favourites I would place them in a folder called Peacocks. Really I would search on a 'needs to' basis. The internet itself is the library or resource. Why store everything again? To be honest I would not search for information about peacock habitat in this way. Nothing on the internet seems very reassuring about this topic.
Module 4_Search Engine Task
Search Engine: Google
Search Term: Peacock habitat
First site: http://www.gotpetsonline.com/peacock/information-peacock/peacock-habitat.html
No. hits: 888,000
p.s. Very ordinary quality site. The page repeats the same sentence 3 times. boo!
Next 4 hits: http://www.bird-breeds.com/Peacock.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock
http://www.tonyhill.net/peacockfeathers.ivnu
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_natural_habitat_of_a_peacock
_________________
Search Engine: Copernic
Search Term: Peacock habitat
First site: http://www.gcamerica.org/scholarship/peacock.html
No. hits: 20
p.s Very obscure choice. Someone who's surname is Peacock offers scolarship on bird habitat. doh!
Next 4 hits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock
http://www.gamebird.com/peacock.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_habitat_of_a_peacock
http://www.peacock-birds.com/
On first glance I was happier with google, but now that I look at the first 5 sites of each search, I believe Copernicus gave results which seemed to stay closer to the topic, despite the first one being an unusual selection for an advanced search engine.
Search Term: Peacock habitat
First site: http://www.gotpetsonline.com/peacock/information-peacock/peacock-habitat.html
No. hits: 888,000
p.s. Very ordinary quality site. The page repeats the same sentence 3 times. boo!
Next 4 hits: http://www.bird-breeds.com/Peacock.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock
http://www.tonyhill.net/peacockfeathers.ivnu
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_natural_habitat_of_a_peacock
_________________
Search Engine: Copernic
Search Term: Peacock habitat
First site: http://www.gcamerica.org/scholarship/peacock.html
No. hits: 20
p.s Very obscure choice. Someone who's surname is Peacock offers scolarship on bird habitat. doh!
Next 4 hits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock
http://www.gamebird.com/peacock.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_habitat_of_a_peacock
http://www.peacock-birds.com/
On first glance I was happier with google, but now that I look at the first 5 sites of each search, I believe Copernicus gave results which seemed to stay closer to the topic, despite the first one being an unusual selection for an advanced search engine.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Concept 13
13. Communication is not complete upon receipt
A major disadvantage of email and similar asynchronous communications systems is that, often or sometimes, human users assume that when a message has been received, then it is automatically going to be acted upon or read or similar processed by the human(s) to which it was sent. While computers are very good at automatically processing information, humans are not.
The key to effective email management is to consistently and conscientiously respond to and act upon the email you receive, while recognising that others may not be as efficient as yourself.
Equally, a website is not complete when it is created and presented: it has to be used. Websites are, basically, a very indirect form of communication and so, if we wish to use the web effectively, we can apply the same lesson: simply visiting a website is not sufficient…doing something with it is what closes the circuit of communication.
Communication is not complete upon receipt. Email, fax, snail mail, messenger, yelling across a room, whispering in an ear... who gets a receipt? Communication has never been an exact science. What is frustrating with the myriad of asynchronous communication systems is that there are so many of them now. So many options of how to make a piece of communication. So many individual preferences all made based on nothing in particular. There are no rules here.
Forget communication on a personal basis, that is a work in progress for our society doing great things with Facebook, mobile phones, SMS, twitter, You Tube and email. These forums have made communication fun and different for those who 'get into it'. But there are a lot of people who don't. I personally don't because it takes just too much time, especially if you actually want a response!
Advertisers try to break into these markets, it's a lot of work to get a message in and responded to.The web and email has fragmented the communication channels from both sides.
The concern when writing formulas for e-direct mail is that a mass email can be sent very economically and quickly. It is not a favoured form of communication, because many people don't open their emails unless they are personal. A personal email does not look personal unless it is personal. That means you need to trust and desire to communicate with the person or business attached to that particular address.
Then there is the cold heartedness of the web for individuals exploring businesses and the community. You can feel unresponded to. The web does not have a politeness factor. This is very difficult to resolve. The best websites make an effort to acknowledge visits. In my experience complaints are not acknowledged often. It is very easy to sign up for things but not easy to get a question answered or service afterwards.Communication should be complete upon receipt. The fact that it is not is what makes the web ineffective. It is a bit hit and miss, so unless you can close the loop by other means ie phone or letter then professionally it is not a stand alone communication, but then again, what is? Any task would need to be followed up and checked throughout its journey to completion. Why does the internet imply completeness. I think it's because there is no visible recipient. It asks you to trust it, because once you have pressed send you have no other means of knowing whether it is truly with the recipient. So there is a built-in assumption there that it must work otherewise it's useless. Which many times it is. And no-one wants to accept this fact.
The internet has a long way to go. It has come a long way too. This course is basically my second look at internet. When I first took an interest it was so raw and basic that I lost interest. This was in 1997 before the dot.coms crashed. 498 words.
Tschabitscher, H (2009) About.com Guide to Email since 1997
http://email.about.com/
This About.com site covers it on 'emails'. The site is part of The New York Times group of companies and has been running since 1997. It has a faithful following on many useful topics, not just email. This 'email' topic within the site talks about good email housekeeping and how to create successful marketing emails. It is relevant to this concept because it illustrates just how much there is to know about a simple topic like email. Email has a lot of applications. Improving our understanding of its uses will improve our chances of enjoying closed circuit communication when we use email.
HavenWorks.com (2009) HavenWorks.com is an Independent American News Website Blog.
http://www.havenworks.com/
This website, gets the prize for the worst website. it looks bad and it is not even current. The last piece of news it has on Australia dates back to February 2008 and is about the Australian Wheat Board price rise. I have included it here to illustrate how badly designed a website can be. It is not that useful, all my searches turned up nothing, so I am not sure who is actually benefitting from this website. News by date (fyi todays date is 17.05.09) has the top entry dated 31 March 2009. How useless. It is also an illustration of what a website looks like when you have no hope of finding out who is behind it. Take my word for it, this site has made me feel bilious.
A major disadvantage of email and similar asynchronous communications systems is that, often or sometimes, human users assume that when a message has been received, then it is automatically going to be acted upon or read or similar processed by the human(s) to which it was sent. While computers are very good at automatically processing information, humans are not.
The key to effective email management is to consistently and conscientiously respond to and act upon the email you receive, while recognising that others may not be as efficient as yourself.
Equally, a website is not complete when it is created and presented: it has to be used. Websites are, basically, a very indirect form of communication and so, if we wish to use the web effectively, we can apply the same lesson: simply visiting a website is not sufficient…doing something with it is what closes the circuit of communication.
Communication is not complete upon receipt. Email, fax, snail mail, messenger, yelling across a room, whispering in an ear... who gets a receipt? Communication has never been an exact science. What is frustrating with the myriad of asynchronous communication systems is that there are so many of them now. So many options of how to make a piece of communication. So many individual preferences all made based on nothing in particular. There are no rules here.
Forget communication on a personal basis, that is a work in progress for our society doing great things with Facebook, mobile phones, SMS, twitter, You Tube and email. These forums have made communication fun and different for those who 'get into it'. But there are a lot of people who don't. I personally don't because it takes just too much time, especially if you actually want a response!
Advertisers try to break into these markets, it's a lot of work to get a message in and responded to.The web and email has fragmented the communication channels from both sides.
The concern when writing formulas for e-direct mail is that a mass email can be sent very economically and quickly. It is not a favoured form of communication, because many people don't open their emails unless they are personal. A personal email does not look personal unless it is personal. That means you need to trust and desire to communicate with the person or business attached to that particular address.
Then there is the cold heartedness of the web for individuals exploring businesses and the community. You can feel unresponded to. The web does not have a politeness factor. This is very difficult to resolve. The best websites make an effort to acknowledge visits. In my experience complaints are not acknowledged often. It is very easy to sign up for things but not easy to get a question answered or service afterwards.Communication should be complete upon receipt. The fact that it is not is what makes the web ineffective. It is a bit hit and miss, so unless you can close the loop by other means ie phone or letter then professionally it is not a stand alone communication, but then again, what is? Any task would need to be followed up and checked throughout its journey to completion. Why does the internet imply completeness. I think it's because there is no visible recipient. It asks you to trust it, because once you have pressed send you have no other means of knowing whether it is truly with the recipient. So there is a built-in assumption there that it must work otherewise it's useless. Which many times it is. And no-one wants to accept this fact.
The internet has a long way to go. It has come a long way too. This course is basically my second look at internet. When I first took an interest it was so raw and basic that I lost interest. This was in 1997 before the dot.coms crashed. 498 words.
Tschabitscher, H (2009) About.com Guide to Email since 1997
http://email.about.com/
This About.com site covers it on 'emails'. The site is part of The New York Times group of companies and has been running since 1997. It has a faithful following on many useful topics, not just email. This 'email' topic within the site talks about good email housekeeping and how to create successful marketing emails. It is relevant to this concept because it illustrates just how much there is to know about a simple topic like email. Email has a lot of applications. Improving our understanding of its uses will improve our chances of enjoying closed circuit communication when we use email.
HavenWorks.com (2009) HavenWorks.com is an Independent American News Website Blog.
http://www.havenworks.com/
This website, gets the prize for the worst website. it looks bad and it is not even current. The last piece of news it has on Australia dates back to February 2008 and is about the Australian Wheat Board price rise. I have included it here to illustrate how badly designed a website can be. It is not that useful, all my searches turned up nothing, so I am not sure who is actually benefitting from this website. News by date (fyi todays date is 17.05.09) has the top entry dated 31 March 2009. How useless. It is also an illustration of what a website looks like when you have no hope of finding out who is behind it. Take my word for it, this site has made me feel bilious.
Concept 6
6. Reading the difference between 'surface' metadata and 'implied' metadata
Metadata, in the context of email, is the generic term for the descriptive data contained in the header of the message that tells us who the email is address to; who the email comes from; what is the email's subject; who else is receiving copies of the email; the urgency which the sender has ascribed to the message; the time the email was sent; and (as supplied by your own interaction with the message once arrived) has it been read and has it been replied to. Metadata is, technically 'data about data'. It is the information which tells us the import and content of other information (you will learn more about metadata throughout your studies).
Effective electronic communication depends on metadata; but, from a user's point of view, the 'surface' metadata (what is actually 'there' in the header) needs to be read in light of the content of the message to see if it is reallyas it should be. For example, a message send to my email address may not actually be to 'me'. Perhaps the person believes I am, for example, the technical support officer in my department (whereas I am the academic coordinator of Internet Studies). The content of the message will make that clear and I will need to respond accordingly.
While the header contains the 'surface' metadata, understanding email messages may require you to interpret the implied, hidden metadata cued into the body of email messages.
While email messages need certain key elements of metadata to make them sendable, and also routinely contain other key elements to make them useable, many websites do no really have good metadata and, with the URL, no-one needs that data. Furthermore, URLs are, rarely, much help as metadata in themselves, unless the site is carefully constructed in such a way as to make the URL communicate to you as well as to the computer. However, as you can see by looking at the metadata in websites, it is important for the proper functioning of search engines and other finding tools.
Conceptually, we are seeing the use of metadata in information services change from being a tightly controlled, ‘professional’ activity (ie a classifying system used by librarians, such as Dewey Decimal, MARC etc) to being an activity completely entwined with the many, diverse processes of everyday, social life. Hence, marketeers carefully think about the metadata they can place in a site so as to attract an audience; pornographers try to make their sites ‘available’ to as many different kinds of search engine requests as they can get away with; even non-commercial sites use metadata to attact people. Thus, rather than being data that describes the data, metadata is slowly becoming (at least in part), data that tries to predict and attract certain types of users.
There is a finite amount of meaningful marketing metadata available. It is getting harder and harder to get original and relevant urls. Even personalised numberplates have re-emerged using 3 for 'e' and colour variations to try to get some more life out the finite scope of 6 letter words.
There is also a cultural aspect to metadata being used world-wide. When I ftp'ed a person in the miidle east, the URL was 'enduringlife'. And this was an advertising agency. So url styles vary around the world. This name would put me in doubt-mode and I would probably not open an email like that unless I knew who it was from.
It is interesting that the URLs are ultimately a number when they are hatched. I was often intigued about how language was actually filed. No problem for meaning but duplications and variations is a problem. And the more names which are created the less their meaning is accurate. So many times I have to settle on a password or user name which is a couple of steps removed what I actually intended. This also adds to the hit and miss perception of the internet.
A great web-site which I have kept an eye on for the last 10 years is http://www.thebranflakes.com/. If you key in http://www.branflake.com/ it defaults to some other url. I actually found it 10 years ago and I haven't thought about it again until now.
The Branflakes are a band. They make amazing music out of found music. They piece all this old stuff together and make something truly original.
I emailed them to find out what they have done with their nifty web 'danger button'....
Hi Joanne,
I do recall you asking about the song. That was years ago and our site has most certainly gone through many transformations. Our Danger area is still active, but hidden. It's accessible from our about page in our bio, http://www.thebranflakes.com/about.html and located here, http://www.thebranflakes.com/danger/index.html
A lot of the content has changed in that from 1997-2000 the website had side projects that Mildred and I were doing, but since 2000 we sort of turned the site into just a place for the band and other projects went over to http://www.happityme.com/ and http://www.otisfodder.com/ and http://www.libsci.com/
Very nice to hear from you and thanks for wanting to use our site as an example.
Cheers,
Otis and Mildred
From: Joanne Murray [mailto:justjoanne@iprimus.com.au] Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 7:01 AMTo: info@thebranflakes.comSubject: Hello
I just want to say hi to you guys from Australia.
I have not thought about you in over a decade and I see your web site is still going!! Your videos are a breath of fresh air.
I stumbled on your site while looking for music - 'She's the ginchiest' by Lee Gordon. Do you remember me? I vaguely remember emailing you then. And I think you answered.
Anyway... I am using your site as an example of meta-data for my Internet Communications course (it is your url http://www.branflake.com/ isn't it?). I was disappointed to see your site doesn't have that 'don't push button'. Why'd you let it go?
This web site has been the bench-mark for me for the mysteries of the internet. How did you all know so much so early? You are real pioneers.
love joanne x
_______________
How's that for some meta-data which does not even try to make sense? 544 words
http://lii.org/pub/subtopic/3247
This website covers in depth about a lot of types of meta-data.
Metadata, in the context of email, is the generic term for the descriptive data contained in the header of the message that tells us who the email is address to; who the email comes from; what is the email's subject; who else is receiving copies of the email; the urgency which the sender has ascribed to the message; the time the email was sent; and (as supplied by your own interaction with the message once arrived) has it been read and has it been replied to. Metadata is, technically 'data about data'. It is the information which tells us the import and content of other information (you will learn more about metadata throughout your studies).
Effective electronic communication depends on metadata; but, from a user's point of view, the 'surface' metadata (what is actually 'there' in the header) needs to be read in light of the content of the message to see if it is reallyas it should be. For example, a message send to my email address may not actually be to 'me'. Perhaps the person believes I am, for example, the technical support officer in my department (whereas I am the academic coordinator of Internet Studies). The content of the message will make that clear and I will need to respond accordingly.
While the header contains the 'surface' metadata, understanding email messages may require you to interpret the implied, hidden metadata cued into the body of email messages.
While email messages need certain key elements of metadata to make them sendable, and also routinely contain other key elements to make them useable, many websites do no really have good metadata and, with the URL, no-one needs that data. Furthermore, URLs are, rarely, much help as metadata in themselves, unless the site is carefully constructed in such a way as to make the URL communicate to you as well as to the computer. However, as you can see by looking at the metadata in websites, it is important for the proper functioning of search engines and other finding tools.
Conceptually, we are seeing the use of metadata in information services change from being a tightly controlled, ‘professional’ activity (ie a classifying system used by librarians, such as Dewey Decimal, MARC etc) to being an activity completely entwined with the many, diverse processes of everyday, social life. Hence, marketeers carefully think about the metadata they can place in a site so as to attract an audience; pornographers try to make their sites ‘available’ to as many different kinds of search engine requests as they can get away with; even non-commercial sites use metadata to attact people. Thus, rather than being data that describes the data, metadata is slowly becoming (at least in part), data that tries to predict and attract certain types of users.
There is a finite amount of meaningful marketing metadata available. It is getting harder and harder to get original and relevant urls. Even personalised numberplates have re-emerged using 3 for 'e' and colour variations to try to get some more life out the finite scope of 6 letter words.
There is also a cultural aspect to metadata being used world-wide. When I ftp'ed a person in the miidle east, the URL was 'enduringlife'. And this was an advertising agency. So url styles vary around the world. This name would put me in doubt-mode and I would probably not open an email like that unless I knew who it was from.
It is interesting that the URLs are ultimately a number when they are hatched. I was often intigued about how language was actually filed. No problem for meaning but duplications and variations is a problem. And the more names which are created the less their meaning is accurate. So many times I have to settle on a password or user name which is a couple of steps removed what I actually intended. This also adds to the hit and miss perception of the internet.
A great web-site which I have kept an eye on for the last 10 years is http://www.thebranflakes.com/. If you key in http://www.branflake.com/ it defaults to some other url. I actually found it 10 years ago and I haven't thought about it again until now.
The Branflakes are a band. They make amazing music out of found music. They piece all this old stuff together and make something truly original.
I emailed them to find out what they have done with their nifty web 'danger button'....
Hi Joanne,
I do recall you asking about the song. That was years ago and our site has most certainly gone through many transformations. Our Danger area is still active, but hidden. It's accessible from our about page in our bio, http://www.thebranflakes.com/about.html and located here, http://www.thebranflakes.com/danger/index.html
A lot of the content has changed in that from 1997-2000 the website had side projects that Mildred and I were doing, but since 2000 we sort of turned the site into just a place for the band and other projects went over to http://www.happityme.com/ and http://www.otisfodder.com/ and http://www.libsci.com/
Very nice to hear from you and thanks for wanting to use our site as an example.
Cheers,
Otis and Mildred
From: Joanne Murray [mailto:justjoanne@iprimus.com.au] Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 7:01 AMTo: info@thebranflakes.comSubject: Hello
I just want to say hi to you guys from Australia.
I have not thought about you in over a decade and I see your web site is still going!! Your videos are a breath of fresh air.
I stumbled on your site while looking for music - 'She's the ginchiest' by Lee Gordon. Do you remember me? I vaguely remember emailing you then. And I think you answered.
Anyway... I am using your site as an example of meta-data for my Internet Communications course (it is your url http://www.branflake.com/ isn't it?). I was disappointed to see your site doesn't have that 'don't push button'. Why'd you let it go?
This web site has been the bench-mark for me for the mysteries of the internet. How did you all know so much so early? You are real pioneers.
love joanne x
_______________
How's that for some meta-data which does not even try to make sense? 544 words
http://lii.org/pub/subtopic/3247
This website covers in depth about a lot of types of meta-data.
Concept 5
5. The mobility of electronic digital data
Email and similar forms of asynchronous communication carry with them the possibility for rapid, efficient, almost invisible 'multiplication' of the addresses to which communication is being sent. Functions such as carbon copying, forwarding and so on enable the most rapid form of communication 'expansion' - bringing other people into communicative circuits - yet seen. It is very easy, with forward for example, to simply 'pass on' information without processing it or, without processing the dynamics of the communicative relationship between you and the forwardee or without realising that you are establishing a third relationship - between the original sender and the final recipient.
Moreover, once people begin to use email and realise that information can be copied and forwarded very easily, there is a tendency for this 'mobility of data' to become a cultural given in which, routinely, we include more people within circuits of communication than are necessary; or include them in ways that are inappropriate.
Advanced Internet communicators always think about the ways in which their own exploitation of the technological ease of mobile data can impact on other Internet users, seeking to ensure that technical possibility is not simply substituted for effective communication requirements.
Another complex aspect of the ‘mobility of data’ can be seen in the way internet users routinely send each other URLs. The addresses, or reference points, of Internet information are incredibly mobile, then. But, to exploit this mobility requires a little work prior to sending, or after receipt. For example, sending URLs to work colleagues without any ‘contextualising’ information is not very useful. You can assist recipients of your URLs by briefly indicating why it is being sent, what is ‘behind’ the URL, and how useful it might be. You should also recognise that passing URLs around may be less effective than passing around summaries of information or comments. For example, would you prefer to receive a short precis of an important article 9and the URL) or just the bare URL? While the ability to move data rapidly and simply, and the cultural sensibility of constantly forwarding and sharing information, is to be valued, it does have certain problems.
The mobility of electronic digital data aka cut and paste violations over the email. Nothing worse! I have indulged myself the luxury of ignoring emails from people who waste my time by communicating this way. Allowing me to sift through jargon that they have possibly already sifted through or worse, not bothered. There is a lot of good PR in explaining to the recipient the value contained within in a large piece of communication, not to mention credibility earned to sustain quality communications for the long term. Either way there is a distrust about what is actually intended by the communication when it is just a subject: FYI and Message: url (with a massive amount of meta-data) oo!
There can be massive negative consequences resulting from information carelessly shared in this way by multiple recipients. It is just useless. It does happen a lot though. I find that when I am sorting through data searched on the internet, there is always so much more information accompanying the sought after part. It is a constant and tiring task to stay on topic. I do understand why the copy paste bad habit has made a home for itself on the email. I guess it's easier than playing information policeman for the plethora of information available, especially when it is rarely done. If you have a mind to do it you end up being cc'd on everyone's emails, just so you can clean up the mess. I'm exagerating, but you get my drift.
Despite or because of 'Boolean logic', there is still a need to comprehend once you have found a phrase which may lead you to what you are seeking. There could still be a lot of useless information to sift through. The internet is effective when you know exactly what you want. It is a trap for browsers.
Take this search:
_________
Question:
'In the wake of the current financial crisis what is the next best alternative to superannuation?'.
_________
Big ask? Let's see what happens when I google this.
The second site to come up is an Aussie sight, so that's good!
I then clicked for similar pages. They felt unconvincing, real estate, money manager, The Age, Guardian, finance.yahoo.
No I think my first search result was the strongest.
As for an answer, let's see....
reading.... oh here we are Mercer spokesman David Anderson said.
"....However, the more knowledge someone had about their super and the workings of financial markets, the more likely their latest statement was in line with expectations...."
Good answer. But the answer was in what I didn't find, considering the question was fairly specific.
__________
My answer:
Currently there is no alternative to superannuation in Australia, there are options in how to manage the shortfall in superannuation but basically it is advised that individuals take responsibilty for the knowledge they have of financial markets as they stand in the present and learn to be realistic about the feasability of long term forecasts.
FYI: Some background information to support my answer can be found on this url.
http://www.news.com.au/business/money/story/0,28323,25092879-5013954,00.html
__________
I found that this search resulted in an articulate, accurate, easily found, easy to read and understand format, the site itself was fast, relevant and original. It was responded to by other comments in the form of very energetic and intelligent dialogue on the article, it was not unimpressive to view, it suited its purpose.
The problem with sharing the information I have found is that my answer is an opinion on the article. It needs to be accompanied by the URL. 571 words.
Barrymore, K. C. (2009) Herald-Sun A superannuation crisis of faith, February 23.
http://www.news.com.au/business/money/story/0,28323,25092879-5013954,00.html
This article was written as part of the News Limited web site under the headings of Money, superannuation. It is considered impartial as it is part of a recognised world news source. Ii itself it doesn't supplort this concept. It is included because the information it contained has aided me in illustrating my point about interpreting information contained within a url.
Whittaker, P.C (2008) The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia Media Release Is email crippling your business? May 2008
http://www.charteredaccountants.com.au/news_releases_2008/may_2008/A121417602
This media release covers other email ettiquette concerns including cost implications to business productivity and the additional demand on staff due to email protocol not being standardised for businesses.
Email and similar forms of asynchronous communication carry with them the possibility for rapid, efficient, almost invisible 'multiplication' of the addresses to which communication is being sent. Functions such as carbon copying, forwarding and so on enable the most rapid form of communication 'expansion' - bringing other people into communicative circuits - yet seen. It is very easy, with forward for example, to simply 'pass on' information without processing it or, without processing the dynamics of the communicative relationship between you and the forwardee or without realising that you are establishing a third relationship - between the original sender and the final recipient.
Moreover, once people begin to use email and realise that information can be copied and forwarded very easily, there is a tendency for this 'mobility of data' to become a cultural given in which, routinely, we include more people within circuits of communication than are necessary; or include them in ways that are inappropriate.
Advanced Internet communicators always think about the ways in which their own exploitation of the technological ease of mobile data can impact on other Internet users, seeking to ensure that technical possibility is not simply substituted for effective communication requirements.
Another complex aspect of the ‘mobility of data’ can be seen in the way internet users routinely send each other URLs. The addresses, or reference points, of Internet information are incredibly mobile, then. But, to exploit this mobility requires a little work prior to sending, or after receipt. For example, sending URLs to work colleagues without any ‘contextualising’ information is not very useful. You can assist recipients of your URLs by briefly indicating why it is being sent, what is ‘behind’ the URL, and how useful it might be. You should also recognise that passing URLs around may be less effective than passing around summaries of information or comments. For example, would you prefer to receive a short precis of an important article 9and the URL) or just the bare URL? While the ability to move data rapidly and simply, and the cultural sensibility of constantly forwarding and sharing information, is to be valued, it does have certain problems.
The mobility of electronic digital data aka cut and paste violations over the email. Nothing worse! I have indulged myself the luxury of ignoring emails from people who waste my time by communicating this way. Allowing me to sift through jargon that they have possibly already sifted through or worse, not bothered. There is a lot of good PR in explaining to the recipient the value contained within in a large piece of communication, not to mention credibility earned to sustain quality communications for the long term. Either way there is a distrust about what is actually intended by the communication when it is just a subject: FYI and Message: url (with a massive amount of meta-data) oo!
There can be massive negative consequences resulting from information carelessly shared in this way by multiple recipients. It is just useless. It does happen a lot though. I find that when I am sorting through data searched on the internet, there is always so much more information accompanying the sought after part. It is a constant and tiring task to stay on topic. I do understand why the copy paste bad habit has made a home for itself on the email. I guess it's easier than playing information policeman for the plethora of information available, especially when it is rarely done. If you have a mind to do it you end up being cc'd on everyone's emails, just so you can clean up the mess. I'm exagerating, but you get my drift.
Despite or because of 'Boolean logic', there is still a need to comprehend once you have found a phrase which may lead you to what you are seeking. There could still be a lot of useless information to sift through. The internet is effective when you know exactly what you want. It is a trap for browsers.
Take this search:
_________
Question:
'In the wake of the current financial crisis what is the next best alternative to superannuation?'.
_________
Big ask? Let's see what happens when I google this.
The second site to come up is an Aussie sight, so that's good!
I then clicked for similar pages. They felt unconvincing, real estate, money manager, The Age, Guardian, finance.yahoo.
No I think my first search result was the strongest.
As for an answer, let's see....
reading.... oh here we are Mercer spokesman David Anderson said.
"....However, the more knowledge someone had about their super and the workings of financial markets, the more likely their latest statement was in line with expectations...."
Good answer. But the answer was in what I didn't find, considering the question was fairly specific.
__________
My answer:
Currently there is no alternative to superannuation in Australia, there are options in how to manage the shortfall in superannuation but basically it is advised that individuals take responsibilty for the knowledge they have of financial markets as they stand in the present and learn to be realistic about the feasability of long term forecasts.
FYI: Some background information to support my answer can be found on this url.
http://www.news.com.au/business/money/story/0,28323,25092879-5013954,00.html
__________
I found that this search resulted in an articulate, accurate, easily found, easy to read and understand format, the site itself was fast, relevant and original. It was responded to by other comments in the form of very energetic and intelligent dialogue on the article, it was not unimpressive to view, it suited its purpose.
The problem with sharing the information I have found is that my answer is an opinion on the article. It needs to be accompanied by the URL. 571 words.
Barrymore, K. C. (2009) Herald-Sun A superannuation crisis of faith, February 23.
http://www.news.com.au/business/money/story/0,28323,25092879-5013954,00.html
This article was written as part of the News Limited web site under the headings of Money, superannuation. It is considered impartial as it is part of a recognised world news source. Ii itself it doesn't supplort this concept. It is included because the information it contained has aided me in illustrating my point about interpreting information contained within a url.
Whittaker, P.C (2008) The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia Media Release Is email crippling your business? May 2008
http://www.charteredaccountants.com.au/news_releases_2008/may_2008/A121417602
This media release covers other email ettiquette concerns including cost implications to business productivity and the additional demand on staff due to email protocol not being standardised for businesses.
Concept 3
3. Effective Internet communication combines technical and communicative competence.
People who know their email programs inside out and can number the dozens of official documents relating to mail protocols often send hopeless email messages; people who, face-to-face or on paper, communicate brilliantly often stumble when on the Internet. Why? Well, besides general issues about intelligence and knowledge not being enough for communication, the answer lies in the fact that the technologies of Internet communication are not 'invisible': because they are new (to most of us) and change the rules about communication we can't divorce (say) writing skill from knowing what an email program does when it store messages. Both aspects are essential.
Because Internet technologies for communication are so much more powerful in their ability to manipulate, transform and process data (a pen, for example, can't store words as well as write them), information processing and communicative skills must be developed in concert.
Similarly, advanced searching involves the development of both techniques (including, for example, detailed knowledge of Boolean logic, but also speed in filling out search engines), and also informational competence, in which you instinctively consider and apply your knowledge of the ways information can be categorised and organised, translating from others classifications into the pattern that you are establishing. Technical skill in searching is not, thus, sufficient.
Refelection on effective internet communication combining technical and communicative competence has lead me to think that the unfamiliarity of these skills due to them generally not being required in concert before the 'techno age' has contributed to there being 90% sub-standard incomplete and generally useless content on the internet and only 10% intelligent and worthwhile matter. This ratio is a guess, but it illustrates my opinion of my first impressions on the internet.
The skills which a beginner on the internet can master easily is copy and paste. There is unlimited space, a massive amount of duplicity and it seems to be run by lunatics. I believe the internet to be literally full of the whole worlds musing and ramblings.
I found the internet very frustrating to begin with. I could see that the information contained on its various indexes, blogs, websites and directories compelled me to want to communicate, but the manner of putting the words out there was so inhibitive, I simply could not work out how to do it. To start with I satisfied myself with surfing. This Net 11 course has encompassed my very first attempts to communicate on the internet.
Writing for the internet and being included in the top 10% of the content found there ideally would be, articulate, accurate, easily found, responded to, impressive to view, easy to read and understand, fast, relevant and original.
Welcome to my blog. I am not sure that it encompasses any of the above hopes, but they are the perameters I have tried to apply whilst I have attempted to learn as many skills as posssible which would help me to meet those objectives.
My lack of technical skills has meant that I have often resisted responding to even a group email through lack of confidence as to the scope of the technology. My worst fear was always to respond to everyone in my address book. Not being technically literate is akin to having a disability the more the internet world evolves.
Technical literacy has been hard to learn because many of the ways the internet searches like 'Boolean logic' can feel like a desparate form of logic at first. You throw every associated phrase you can think of at a seemingly impossible search. It feels very hit and miss until you offer up specific facts of what you are looking for then it literally has all the answers.
Coupling writing with technical skills is not the only hurdle. The system of computers and data itself is relatively unstable. It is quite feasible that the internet site is down for some reason, or the email is down, or there is a change of email address that hasn't been communicated. Or the web site links don't work. These are not problems which are controlled by the user. These moments require us to down tools and wait or seek an alternative method of communication.
It is in this alternating between communication platforms that the information loses its potency. Internet communication can give a lot of confidence to the user when it works but can seem so flimsy when important information is delayed because of a computer glich. 520 words
Kaplan, M., C (2007). Herp Care Collection. Assessing and Validating Information Found on the Internet
http://www.anapsid.org/internet/assessnet.html
This website outlines a useful process to validate information found on the internet. It also offers many on- line and text resources which may support a persons efforts to validate information found on the internet.It is a page which the writer encourages participation from readers to include new resources as they come to hand. The writer seeks to reinforce the need for awareness of the potential lack of integrity which may affect information from the web.
Anderson, C., C(2004). The Long Tail. Wired Magazine Issue 12.10.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html
This article is about the ease of finding buyers on the web for obscure and secondary products which have been knocked back in the original marketing selection process. The ease of putting things up to be found on the web is simpler to 'just do it' than to spend time analysing the value of making such an item available. This is the complete opposite to marketing prior to the internet where available space to display and production costs reduced the options available to a particular buying market.
People who know their email programs inside out and can number the dozens of official documents relating to mail protocols often send hopeless email messages; people who, face-to-face or on paper, communicate brilliantly often stumble when on the Internet. Why? Well, besides general issues about intelligence and knowledge not being enough for communication, the answer lies in the fact that the technologies of Internet communication are not 'invisible': because they are new (to most of us) and change the rules about communication we can't divorce (say) writing skill from knowing what an email program does when it store messages. Both aspects are essential.
Because Internet technologies for communication are so much more powerful in their ability to manipulate, transform and process data (a pen, for example, can't store words as well as write them), information processing and communicative skills must be developed in concert.
Similarly, advanced searching involves the development of both techniques (including, for example, detailed knowledge of Boolean logic, but also speed in filling out search engines), and also informational competence, in which you instinctively consider and apply your knowledge of the ways information can be categorised and organised, translating from others classifications into the pattern that you are establishing. Technical skill in searching is not, thus, sufficient.
Refelection on effective internet communication combining technical and communicative competence has lead me to think that the unfamiliarity of these skills due to them generally not being required in concert before the 'techno age' has contributed to there being 90% sub-standard incomplete and generally useless content on the internet and only 10% intelligent and worthwhile matter. This ratio is a guess, but it illustrates my opinion of my first impressions on the internet.
The skills which a beginner on the internet can master easily is copy and paste. There is unlimited space, a massive amount of duplicity and it seems to be run by lunatics. I believe the internet to be literally full of the whole worlds musing and ramblings.
I found the internet very frustrating to begin with. I could see that the information contained on its various indexes, blogs, websites and directories compelled me to want to communicate, but the manner of putting the words out there was so inhibitive, I simply could not work out how to do it. To start with I satisfied myself with surfing. This Net 11 course has encompassed my very first attempts to communicate on the internet.
Writing for the internet and being included in the top 10% of the content found there ideally would be, articulate, accurate, easily found, responded to, impressive to view, easy to read and understand, fast, relevant and original.
Welcome to my blog. I am not sure that it encompasses any of the above hopes, but they are the perameters I have tried to apply whilst I have attempted to learn as many skills as posssible which would help me to meet those objectives.
My lack of technical skills has meant that I have often resisted responding to even a group email through lack of confidence as to the scope of the technology. My worst fear was always to respond to everyone in my address book. Not being technically literate is akin to having a disability the more the internet world evolves.
Technical literacy has been hard to learn because many of the ways the internet searches like 'Boolean logic' can feel like a desparate form of logic at first. You throw every associated phrase you can think of at a seemingly impossible search. It feels very hit and miss until you offer up specific facts of what you are looking for then it literally has all the answers.
Coupling writing with technical skills is not the only hurdle. The system of computers and data itself is relatively unstable. It is quite feasible that the internet site is down for some reason, or the email is down, or there is a change of email address that hasn't been communicated. Or the web site links don't work. These are not problems which are controlled by the user. These moments require us to down tools and wait or seek an alternative method of communication.
It is in this alternating between communication platforms that the information loses its potency. Internet communication can give a lot of confidence to the user when it works but can seem so flimsy when important information is delayed because of a computer glich. 520 words
Kaplan, M., C (2007). Herp Care Collection. Assessing and Validating Information Found on the Internet
http://www.anapsid.org/internet/assessnet.html
This website outlines a useful process to validate information found on the internet. It also offers many on- line and text resources which may support a persons efforts to validate information found on the internet.It is a page which the writer encourages participation from readers to include new resources as they come to hand. The writer seeks to reinforce the need for awareness of the potential lack of integrity which may affect information from the web.
Anderson, C., C(2004). The Long Tail. Wired Magazine Issue 12.10.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html
This article is about the ease of finding buyers on the web for obscure and secondary products which have been knocked back in the original marketing selection process. The ease of putting things up to be found on the web is simpler to 'just do it' than to spend time analysing the value of making such an item available. This is the complete opposite to marketing prior to the internet where available space to display and production costs reduced the options available to a particular buying market.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Module 4_Tools for using the web (cont.)
This material has been developed to accompany:
"Searching and Researching on the Internet and the World Wide Web, Fourth Edition" ISBN 1-59028-036-9 "The Information Searcher's Guide to Searching and Researching on the Internet & the World Wide Web" ISBN 1-887902-58-9
.edu
educational (anything from serious research to zany student pages)
.gov
governmental (usually dependable)
.com
commercial (may be trying to sell a product)
.net
network (may provide services to commercial or individual customers)
.org
organization (non-profit institutions; may be biased)
I recently checked out a website of a company which I know is 'in business' 'doing well' 'has a well designed web page' 'up to date content'. I was intrigued that it had copyright 1998. It is 2009. In this instance what conclusions should I draw from a date? Knowing this company they probably think it means they've not just turned up on the web. But I do wonder!
"Searching and Researching on the Internet and the World Wide Web, Fourth Edition" ISBN 1-59028-036-9 "The Information Searcher's Guide to Searching and Researching on the Internet & the World Wide Web" ISBN 1-887902-58-9
.edu
educational (anything from serious research to zany student pages)
.gov
governmental (usually dependable)
.com
commercial (may be trying to sell a product)
.net
network (may provide services to commercial or individual customers)
.org
organization (non-profit institutions; may be biased)
I recently checked out a website of a company which I know is 'in business' 'doing well' 'has a well designed web page' 'up to date content'. I was intrigued that it had copyright 1998. It is 2009. In this instance what conclusions should I draw from a date? Knowing this company they probably think it means they've not just turned up on the web. But I do wonder!
Week 9
I have been missing in action. I cannot believe it's the end of week 9. I have found this course extremely time consuming. I have learned heaps but have not managed to record all that much. I have started module 4 again, I didn't grasp enough, I failed the online tests... I'm missing something. I have just spent the last hour getting up to speed with shockwave. Testing the site I thought I would start with an online jigsaw puzzle. Easy right? No. Todays (may 2) is corrupt - paly now, won't play now! Don't get me started on the fact that today is May 3. May 3 won't let me play unless I join club shockwave. Patchwork game alternative - can do. V boring tho!
I had BB opened in tabs. I left the java script applet running on a separate tab, whilst I went back to BB on another tab. I could not get back to the tab which I left with the Java applet going. Internet Expolorer seized up.
Boy oh boy. I don't know why I would save things off the web. With the right search technique I just find what I'm looking for and let it go. I search fresh everytime. It is mindboggling me to think of people referring to 'trying to catalogue their 1,000's of searches'. I'm really missing something.
I had BB opened in tabs. I left the java script applet running on a separate tab, whilst I went back to BB on another tab. I could not get back to the tab which I left with the Java applet going. Internet Expolorer seized up.
Boy oh boy. I don't know why I would save things off the web. With the right search technique I just find what I'm looking for and let it go. I search fresh everytime. It is mindboggling me to think of people referring to 'trying to catalogue their 1,000's of searches'. I'm really missing something.
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