A Texas expat relocated to Santa Monica, CA with a passion for tech & info literacy.
I love all things tech, social media, web, gaming, design, art and books.
Writing a Tumblr post feels like less of a commitment than blogging: because the form is based on very viral, often short, content, it feels more like a living notebook where pages can be easily reblogged and annotated from others’ notes.
Anyone have a daily writing practice like Leo describes? I’d love to start one. What does your writing time look like?
What tips do I have to a “poor blogger who is juggling a busy life”? My response is that everybody is fucking busy, but you make time for what you love.
If you don’t love what you are blogging about, then you obviously are considering it “work” and it’s a “task” on your to-do list. Maybe your blog is about the wrong thing! It’s okay to change, you know… you’re allowed to be many things in life, so pivot to a new subject that you love. And if you’re not sure you love it, then try it for a while, like a child with a piano one week, a skateboard the next, and a guitar the next.
There’s no need to stop behing a childlike in your experimentation when you are an adult.
You’ll find what you love as long as you forgive yourself for failing on many random stabs! Your mom is not standing over you forcing you to play the piano (“blog about BS”) every day. You’re in charge, you know. If it’s something you love, then you crave it, you think about it in the shower, you lose track of time. If you love it, you find a way.
Do You Know These Time Saving Blogging Tips? : @ProBlogger
Boom! Trey Ratcliff lays it down and drops the mic.
Your single-serve Tumblog of the day: White Men Wearing Google Glass
See also this Wired article: Guys Like This Could Kill Google Glass Before It Ever Gets Off the Ground
My thoughts/questions as I’m watching this:
Glass How-to: Getting Started (by Project Glass)
Although publishing has some specific requirements not common to the web generally, I think that the distinction between a website (or app) and an ebook will disappear with time. As I have written before, both will demand high-quality typography and layout, interactivity, linking, multimedia, offline access, annotations, metadata, and so on. Digital publishers’ interest in the Open Web Platform is a natural progression of their embrace of the early web.
…its analysis found that those applicants who have bothered to install new web browsers on their computers (such as Mozilla’s Firefox or Google’s Chrome) perform better and stay in their posts for 15% longer, on average, than those who use the default pre-installed browser that came with their machine (ie, Internet Explorer on a Windows PC and Safari on an Apple Mac). This may simply be a coincidence, but Evolv’s analysts reckon that applicants’ willingness to go to the trouble of installing a new browser shows decisiveness, a valuable trait in a potential employee.
The Economist explains: How might your choice of browser affect your job prospects?
lol wat? Hat tip to Reddit for the story.
THiS WALL OF TEXT IS ABOUT BUSINESS AND ONLINE VIDEO IF YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT STUFF KEEP SCROLLING I WILL POST MORE CAT GIFS SOON
For those of you who don’t know, John and I were recipients of part of YouTube’s “Original Channel” funding initiative. We used that money to start Crash Course…
As many of my female peers are doing at the moment, I’m reading a book by Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg called Lean In. The first chapter asks: What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
My answer? I’d write this blog.
Hello. My name is Meagan Marie, and I’m a person. I’ve decided I’m going to…
A powerful post on Meagan’s experiences of sexual harassment in the gaming industry/fandoms and her courage to defend herself, inspired by Sheryl Sandberg’s new book, Lean In. I’ve got the book downloaded to my Audible app and I’m so excited to listen to it. I’m with you Meagan, this is so tired. The next time someone rolls their eyes at me dismissing this issue, I will remember your calm strength. PS - your steampunk Lara Croft costume is incredible!!
This is how the conversation goes about the guitar. Me: “Do you really want to add a new activity?” Her: “We already have a guitar. I can learn on my own and with my friends.” Me: “It seems like you should get lessons for the basics.” Her: “Mom, that’s what the Internet is for.” It turns out she’s already been practicing with the help of YouTube tutorials.
The perceptions that we have of the world shape the way we understand it, and new technologies lead to new perceptions. Perhaps my greatest shift in this direction came once I had an iPhone; once I began to carry in my pocket a device that would allow me to capture and share what I was seeing or hearing instantly via tools like Twitter – tools that were simultaneously personal and not directed at any single other person. This device, these capabilities altered the way I experienced the physical world. I no longer had to be stuck behind my desk to share content, to make connections; I could do so from the wild. This started changing what I saw by changing what I looked for.
When seeing becomes social: How the network is changing the way I look at the world.
I experienced this as well when I got my first iPhone/first reliable smartphone. Even though I used to carry a camera in my purse, I had to wait until I got home to upload the photos anywhere. Now that I can share on a number of networks anytime right away, new conversations happen in my head - “do I put this photo on Instagram, or Facebook? Or both? What’s a cute caption?” On and on.
This MOOC starts tomorrow. Join me! I’m resolved to finally commit to a MOOC I’m registered for, so this is it. Let’s keep each other motivated to learn about the history of the Web!
“Every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn to code.”
(via Code.org | Dedicated to growing computer programming education)
Meet Zora Ball. She is a seven year old who learned how to program her own mobile video game. How cool is that?
She used a programming language call Bootstrap and her program was unveiled at UPenn’s Bootstrap Expo this past January. You can read more about her story here.
It’s exciting to see kids getting exposed to computer programming at such a young age since our world now kind of revolves around computers and mobile devices.
Rock on Zora, rock on.
My career history in social, web and instructional technologies exemplifies my dedication to encouraging technological literacy and offering superior customer service.
Since the day I first got access to a computer at home and (dial-up!) internet as a teenager, I have enjoyed a passion for learning and teaching others about the technologies we use every day. With my own mix of empathy, patience, humor and an upbeat attitude, I strive to provide technology assistance to my clients that's accessible and actionable.
After recently relocating to Santa Monica, California, I now get to bring my years of experience in customer service, technical know-how and online learning (and yoga!) to YogaGlo.com.
Other personal interests include reading, listening to my favorite podcasts and keeping up on all things tech, socia media and video games. If you're a League of Legends player, add me! My summoner name is: Amethmyst
• Resolve account, billing and technical issues via email (through Zendesk) and phone for a growing, international customer base.
• Contribute to the writing and maintenance of public tech support articles and Zendesk macros for customer service team use.
• Collaborate with tech and marketing teams to address current issues and prepare to support new features.
• Developed and lead high quality, interactive and actionable technical training workshops to college-aged and adult learners in the St. Edward's University community.
• Leveraged written and oral presentation skills, a range of technical proficiencies, and a passion for following the latest tech industry news and trends to teach a number of technical subjects for beginner to intermediate learners with speed, accuracy and authority.
• Produced training materials and software documentation via print, web and screencast videos.
• Collaborated with faculty for specialized workshops and materials for in-class technical training for students in topics ranging from PowerPoint to HTML and CSS.
• Widely consulted as a primary subject matter expert on social media for university employees and students.
• Advised on awareness-building poster and tabling campaigns for issues surrounding computer security.
• Provided orientation training for new staff members on University software, technology policies, and professional development opportunities provided by Instructional Technology.
• Lead search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns for a variety of B2B and B2C clients.
• Campaign management and consulting included making structural and content recommendations for increasing search engine rankings and educating client contacts on SEO best practices and strategies.
• Produced training sessions and accompanying process documentation for colleagues on social media use in the context of SEO.
• Oversaw intern training and daily assignment delegation.
Assisted the Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) Project Manager with event planning and community outreach for Knowbility's annual AIR event.
Additional duties included:
• contacting donors, non-profits and affiliated companies via email
• writing for Knowbility’s newsletter
• event photography and photo-editing
• proofreading grant proposals and outgoing materials
Assisted students, faculty and staff in-person, via telephone and email to analyze and resolve computing issues (internet connectivity, software problems, virus/spyware infections).