today

Thing #13 Delicious for Research Papers

As part of my school work , I shall be saving and referring to several hundreds of papers during the next one year. I plan to save them in del.icio.us . I might encounter some difficulty in using the full power of delicious, but I believe it would be worth persisting, to save time , in the long run.

Thing#13 Delicious: Take Two: Preserving loss of information

It is a great concept to save my sites on delicious. However I already have so many files scattered over several computers and flashdrives. It is certainly possible theoretically to consolidate, but it would take about an year. After that if there should be no missing information for three months, I would scrap the old files and computers. It might even be a good idea to save all my information on Outlook at home and back it up on google docs and delicious.

Thing #13 Delicious

The social bookmarking site, delicious, has been something I have heard about, but have never used before. Without using a social bookmarking site, for less than six months, it is difficult to be amazed. As I understand the idea is to save my sites to this site in delicious. My main delicious page is http://del.icio.us/bharatp49 . I have also established the buttons on my PC.The option to provide notes and tags are provided by delicious and it also has an option to provide RSS feeds. I wish I had been introduced to the delicious, soon after I was born. I would have happily stored all my photos, music, video, class-lectures and all my information on delicious and accessed it whenever and wherever necessary. It is not enough just to have an account. I think I should organize all my information in the delicious account. The option of sharing it with several people and understand that several others have been thinking on the same line , gives impetus to my ideas. Right now, the information system that I have is such a confusion, that if I am hit by a truck on the way to work, nobody would be able to untangle the jumble. That is a resolution , I want to make , on my 59th birthday that, I would organize all my information and share it with all interested parties, within one year.

Thing#17 Wiki

I have added a link to my blog on the OCL Webthings Blogs page on PBwiki and have tested it links to my blog.

Thing #2: habits of lifelong learning

The easiest habit is to think of learning as play(& 1/2 th habit): the hardest is to regard every problem as a challenge, as some of the problems make me so emotional, that I cease thinking.

Thing #12 Net library Take 2:

I got myself a Net Library account and viewed the book, 800 million dollar bill. I reproduce the comments about the book, which are illuminating:Why do life-saving prescription drugs cost so much? Drug companies insist that prices reflect the millions they invest in research and development. In this gripping exposé, Merrill Goozner contends that American taxpayers are in fact footing the bill twice: once by supporting government-funded research and again by paying astronomically high prices for prescription drugs. Goozner demonstrates that almost all the important new drugs of the past quarter-century actually originated from research at taxpayer-funded universities and at the National Institutes of Health. He reports that once the innovative work is over, the pharmaceutical industry often steps in to reap the profit. Goozner shows how drug innovation is driven by dedicated scientists intent on finding cures for diseases, not by pharmaceutical firms whose bottom line often takes precedence over the advance of medicine. A university biochemist who spent twenty years searching for a single blood protein that later became the best-selling biotech drug in the world, a government employee who discovered the causes for dozens of crippling genetic disorders, and the Department of Energy-funded research that made the Human Genome Project possible--these engrossing accounts illustrate how medical breakthroughs actually take place. The $800 Million Pill suggests ways that the government's role in testing new medicines could be expanded to eliminate the private sector waste driving up the cost of existing drugs. Pharmaceutical firms should be compelled to refocus their human and financial resources on true medical innovation, Goozner insists. This book is essential reading for everyone concerned about the politically charged topics of drug pricing, Medicare coverage, national health care, and the role of pharmaceutical companies in developing countries

Thing #2 Habits of lifelong learning

The day we stop learning, we are dead, no matter when we are buried. Learning has to be play, the 7 1/2 th habit. It is a way of looking at learning, work and play. If my vocation and avocation is the same, then I would be at ease, whether at work or at play. At 21 I made a great decision to go back to School and invest all my savings in two year full-time education. That was the best investment, I ever made. For three generations my family has invested in life-long learning. That has placed my family in the top 20% of the American economy. Beyond the material satisfaction, learning teaches us, not just to make a living, but how to live.

#23 Wrapping Up

The favorite thing that I learned about, is the possibility of integrating all my information needs and getting upto the minute updates.I am getting my newspapers through email. I would now be using RSS feeds. I would download several podcasts and youtube vodcasts to entertain myself. I am sharing flickr, podcast and youtube with my family and friends. The thing I don't like about Web 2.0 is that it is not touch and voice sensitive. I would like Web 3.0 to be touch and voice sensitive and available on the cell-phone, at no charge.
This is not the end of the learning of Web 2.0 . It is just the beginning of my life-long learning program.

#22 ThingListenNJ

I went on Listennj and read the first few pages of Jane Austen's , Persuasion. Honestly it was not an easy exercise, despite being on a PC Plus computer. The requirement of Windows Media Player Security Upgrade, in my opinion was , resulting in a "denial of service". Further not being able to download onto an ipod or Zune at this stage results in further denial of service. Is there no ombudsman who would take up this denial of service, with all the concerned service ( or should I call it disservice) providers.
I had to take help of my librarian colleague to complete the exercise and rigorously go through the complicated instructions, set out. I had very little difficulty with downloading youtube and podcast, compared to Listennj.

#21 Podcast

http://odeo.com/audio/17306533/view
The podcast is from odeo.com, of a bollywood best song of the year in the sixties. I shall be testing it after posting.

you tube take 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAcuPf9UM7U
There was a mixup in the earlier post and so I am trying again.
The meaning of the song is "This is a beautiful world and your presence makes it so". It is sung in my hometown and vodcasted the world over.

#20 Youtube

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=33947625

I have copied the link to the youtube music. I shall be testing if it works before I release it.

#19 Web 2.0 awards

I would like to use peertrainer to lose weight and regain health. I have gained 20 lbs in the last eight years and have lost muscle mass. I would like to convert my flesh into muscle mass through peertrainer.

Thing #18 Google Docs/ Web applications

I have been having Google Docs for over one year and it is a great tool. I do not have to even carry a flashdrive from home to library but start working on the document whether I am at home or library or school. It is a great invention and I feel good to have my documents on google docs. However I am worried about handing over all my docs to google who could manipulate me with that information.

Thing #17

I am trying to add a little something to the wiki page as part of #17 sandbox exercise and shall say about it in my blog bharatp49.blogspot.com
I posted the above entry in the sandbox and pasted it on the blog. I don't know how long it will remain in the sandbox but hopefully the ethics of other wiki members would ensure that nothing gets erased.

Thing #16 - Wikis

Wikis are really great as a collaborative effort. Having said that I would think that it should have a good editor to make sure , it is not vandalized. As a former programmer, I would think that the person making changes should provide reasons and citations.

Thing #15 Library 2.0

Libraries have transformed themselves from an institution, run by a rigid administration, to an organization run for the people, by the people. The library patrons had very little say in the running of the library, but now we need those inputs. Those inputs would make sure that we do not build a library, which nobody wants. However we should also do some Marketing Research to ascertain whether the product, that we plan to launch, has popular following. The library patrons are not a homogeneous lot. They are diverse and our 2.0 library has to cater to the diverse population.

#14: Technorati

Technorati is a great tool for finding out the traffic into a website. It is for the websites, what Nielsen is for retailers and advertisers. I shall look up data on Technorati as soon as I need some data.

#10 Technology Blog: Take 2:

As I mentioned earlier, mobile phone, is going to replace phone and TV and PC . That is the unmistakeable trend, that I see.

#9 : RSS feeds search

I used the URL of nytimes.com to get the New York Times , feed. I would be experimenting if it would be better than the daily newspaper I receive in my email. RSS feed would take time to appeal to me , as I have got so used to the email inbox. I am also receiving ten other RSS feeds, but am yet to take full advantage of it. Each day I receive about 20 emails , which I would convert into RSS, but it is going to take time.

DSC00241

DSC00241
Originally uploaded by bharatp49

Geeetha's graduation photo, sideshoot.

DSC00241

DSC00241
Originally uploaded by bharatp49

Geeetha's graduation photo, sideshoot.