LinkedIn - Your professional face for the whole world to see.

LinkedIn provides the ultimate forum for your digital resume or company profile.  The more details you provide on your LinkedIn site the more information those browsing your page can learn about you.  The more searchable options you provide for those looking for what you have to offer the better.  Provide all important details, but avoid too much personal data.  This is not personal Facebook, it’s your business image.

Show your personality on LinkedIn by discussing current events, creating or getting involved in groups and your status updates.  It is also important to include keywords related to your business and learn the basics of Search Engine Optimization.  The better your SEO and keywords the higher your profile will be ranked when others are searching for your skill set.  A great place to start learning about SEO is the article SEO: How to Increase the Visibility of Your Business Profile.

Once your LinkedIn profile is ready, start connecting all your sites together; your website, Facebook, Blog and Twitter.  If you are a business owner make sure your business website points to all your social networking sites.  Sculpt your LindeIn, as well as all social media and website, to show your business face.  Social media sites can help you or hurt you, always keep that in mind.

Comparing Popular Social Networking Sites

	Facebook	MySpace	LinkedIn	Twitter
URL	www.facebook.com	www.myspace.com	www.linkedin.com	www.twitter.com
Requirement to Join	Valid Email Address	Valid Email Address	Valid Email Address	Valid Email Address
Personal Site Formatting	Limited	Customizable	Limited	Customizable
Upload Videos	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Upload Photos	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Public Messages	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Private Message	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Instant Messaging	Yes	No	No	Yes
File Sharing	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Multi-Player Games	Yes	No	No	No
Search Suggestion	Yes	No	No	Yes
Live Search Results	Yes	No	No	Yes
Filtered Searching	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Critical Mass Coast to Coast Podcast

The third podcast I check out is Critical Mass for Business.   It can be heard as one of the many shows on www.Octalkradio.net or directly through podbean.com at http://ceopeergroups.podbean.com/?source=pb.  The host of the show is Richard Franzi and the show is designed to be a peer learning experience for those in all types of business.  Both websites are very well put together and the podcasts are very professionally produced. 

Richard Franzi is based out of Orange County, CA so many of the shows have guests from his area, but the show is certainly not exclusively for those in Southern California.  One of the shows I really enjoyed had a guest in the Commerical Real Estate field is San Antonio, TX.  Her name is Christi Griggs and she is the Principal of Peloton Commercial Real Estate, which can be found on the web at http://www.pelotoncre.com/.

If you are interested in Business in any form, Richard’s shows are worth checking out.  He does one show a week and generally has two guests per show.  His guest cover the whole spectrum of the business market, so there is something for everyone.  Please give Richard’s podcast a chance.   I really enjoyed it. 

Victoria

Too Jewish!!!

The second podcast I checked out had a title that was just irresistible, Too Jewish!  It’s hosted by Rabbi Sam Cohon and he has various guests from time to time.  In his most recent podcast Rabbi Cohon talks about the Jewish New Year and he also speaks to his guest Rabbi Alana Suskin.  Rabbi Cohon is based out of Arizona, which I once called home.  I wish I had heard his show when I still lived there. 

I do not know if you have ever visited a Jewish Temple as a non-Jew, but it is not always very welcoming.  I was told once by a Rabbi that becoming a Jew in this world is to ask for hardship.  He said he feels it is duty to discourage outsiders from trying to convert and will tell them no three or four times before agreeing to teach them.  He then went on to explain, really the reason he tries to put people off is not just because the persecution that has come with being Jewish of the centuries.  Part of it is because the importance of the decision to covert.  If someone can be easily turned away, then this hard path is not for them.  If they persist long enough maybe it is.

From listening to Rabbi Cohon, I do not think he feels this way.  He seems to be very welcoming to all people with an interested to learn more about the Jewish faith and traditions.  I studied Hebrew for a while under a Rabbi in Texas, but things did not go well.  I have an interesting in learning more and I am so glad I found Rabbi Cohon’s podcast.  I look forward to listening to it in the future and learning whatever he has to teach.

Too Jewish can be found at the following link.   http://toojewishradio.podbean.com/?source=pb

Victoria

Andy Dell's Podcast - Isamic woman who converted to Christianity.

This lesson was not an easy one.  I thought it would be because I have been listening to podcasts for over a decade.  I never imagined it would be so difficult and so involved to not only create my own podcast, but find podcasts to review.

I tried podcastalley.com and did not find any good podcasts.  Most of the ones I was interested in were no longer available.  I then tried podcast.com and that domain name is up for sale so that website is completely gone.

I did some searching for some place to host my podcast and found a website to host my podcast and it also had several good podcasts to follow.  It's podbean.com check it out.

I found Jesus Christ is here now! by Andy Dell.  There was a wonderful podcast of a woman who grow up Muslim in the middle east who converted to Christianity.  The sound quality was wonderful, her testimony was amazing, and I was very moved by her words.

Here is a link to Andy's website so you check it out for yourself. 
http://andydell.podbean.com/?source=pb

ShiftHappens - Did you know videos - Did You Know? 3.0

ShiftHappens - Did you know videos - Did You Know? 4.0

ShiftHappens - Did you know videos - Iowa, Did You Know?

shifthappens

The ShiftHappens wiki pages are insightful, and they are thinking and talking about subjects that are important.  I tried to join, and got an email telling me that I did not need to join to use the resources.  I am not sure which resource they were specifically referring to because my access seems limited. 

I then followed the link to join and was prompted to send an email to two of the administrators.  I did that because I was interested in contributing and starting my own wiki related to the subject of preparing future generations for the unknown future to come.  I have yet to hear back about my pending membership, and was unable to find three wiki's to review on the site with my limited access.  I found some good information, but author information was missing so I was not sure how to go about citing a post without knowing who wrote it.

I think this maybe part of the problem with wiki's in general.  The source can be questionable, and therefore, not creditable enough for academic research.  Wiki's are far to often opinion stated as fact without anything solid to back them up.  They are good starting points for getting ideas, but they generally would not be considered scholarly creditable.

The ShiftHappens is something that everyone should view, and by going to there website listed below, you can always find their latest video for the most up to date information.


http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/

Victoria

The 6 C’s: Co-Creating Competencies for 21st Century Citizenship

On the shifthappens.wikispaces.com I discovered The 6C’s for 21 Century Comptency wiki article “The 6 C’s: Co-Creating Competencies for 21st Century Citizenship”.  This article was written by Cynthia Drew Barnes, Ph.D, who is the CEO of Learning4Change.  However, the E does not stand for Executive, in her case she is the Chief Empowerment Officer.

From reading Dr. Barnes article it is very clear that she has a real grasp on the current state of education in America.  In this article, Dr. Barnes states, “We must move into a new model that clearly adopts the strategy that ‘one size does not fit all.’” (Drew Barnes, 2008) Not only does she clearly see the current situation, but she has some brilliant ideas for the change that is needed.

Her article clearly calls for change and her 6C’s are a good starting point that anyone could adopt.  She is not just talking about education reform; she uses words like “citizenship” and “global village” (Drew Barnes, 2008).  It is clear that preparing the future generation for a productive life in the 21^st Century is a real passion for Dr.  Barnes.

 

Dr. Barnes insight for the future can be summed up as follows:

In the 21st Century, the “3 R’s” must give way to the “6 C’s,” competencies each person must master for effective functioning and:

The 6 C’s for 21st Century Citizenship

1. Connect

2. Create

3. Collaborate

4. Communicate

5. Compute

6. Think Critically

 

I found this wiki very inspiring and Dr. Barnes passion very moving.  I definitely recommend others read her work.  This is one of the best wiki’s I have found on wikispaces and it clearly and simply address the issues brought up in the Did You Know video.

 

Victoria

 

Works Cited

Drew Barnes, C. (2008, Jan 29). The 6c's for 21st century competency. Retrieved from http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/The 6C's for 21st Century Competency

21st Century Skills

The first shifthappens wiki I checked out was 21^st Century Skills.  Part of their Mission Statement really struck me, “The skill sets necessary in an industrial nation are not adequate in 21^st century America.” (Ablett, Bellizzi, Byers, Cove, Dobrusin, Frey & Hanke) This is completely 100% on the mark for the kids who will be working in what we think of as the professional and technological fields.  I was once one of those kids.  I had my technology career.  However, now I am the grandmother to two boys who are growing up on a farm.  If they turn out anything like their father, they will love the land, growing things, and raising animals.

American students definitely need 21^st century skills, but the industrial society that this technological society grew out could not do without the agrarian society upon which it was built.  Neither can the technological society.  Someone will always need to grow the food and raise the animals we eat.  It may not look like it did 100 years ago or like it does today.  GMO’s are not going to make it, we have real bodies that need real food not genetically-modified, chemically-enhanced, disease-feeding foods.

We need to prepare our future professionals, blue collar workers, and even farmers for the technological age, but let’s not make the mistake of thinking blue collar jobs and farming are going away.   

 

Works Cited

Ablett, E., Bellizzi, D., Byers, J., Cove, S., Dobrusin, M., Frey, A., & Hanke, J. (n.d.). 21st century skills. Retrieved from http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/21st Century Skills

Want to share sites you find interesting, check on Del.icio.us!

The second blog post required for this week is a review of Del.icio.us or delicious.com.  It is a social media site for sharing bookmarks online.  I do not know if it is something I will use, but I’m considering it.  I might be able to help my dad out by sharing links to different “How To” websites like how to change your homepage back when it has been high jacked.  Another one he needs is how to remove fake virus detection software that keeps popping up trying to sell you a way to remove the 100’s of viruses and malware that you do not really have on your computer.

Delicious.com uses the example of a teacher sharing links with her students.  The links she is sharing direct her students to valid research resources.  I think that is a very clever idea.  It would be particularly useful for younger students who do not understand that a lot sites they think are creditable, like Wikipedia, can be full of personal opinions and incorrect information.  It would also save the student time searching the Internet for creditable sources when the teacher already has a list of them ready on her delicious.com site.

My delicious.com link is: https://delicious.com/vixfox#

All it contains right now is links to Web 2.0 information I found interesting or useful.  If you have never tried out delicious.com, give it a whirl.  There are a lot of users with varied interest so you can find links to just about anything.

I can only think of benefits to using delicious.com.  The only drawback I could see is the standard privacy issues, but with this site you would have to go out of your way to reveal too much private information.  I am interested to see if any of my classmates came up with drawbacks.

Checking out Flickr - A Web 2.0 site for sharing images.

Part of this week’s class assignment required creating a Photostream on Flickr containing images I created with Web 2.0 as a theme.  I know I’m weird, but I love Microsoft Paint.  I’m especially thrilled with the recent changes to it that expanded its capabilities so I used it to create my images.  My images are very primitive, but I like them, and they express my thoughts and feelings about Web 2.0.

Since I had never used Flickr before, I was expecting to have a little trouble with it.  Signing up for an account was painless.  The only hiccup I had was after selecting my pictures, describing them, and picking out a few tags for each of them I thought I was finished.  I clicked off the page and nothing was saved.  I did not have anything in my Photostream.  I was confused so I started over from step one.  Once I was back into the Upload screen I immediate saw what I had missed before.  There is an Upload Photo button.  Duh!  After reselecting my images, describing them again, and yet again tagging them, I clicked the button that read “Upload 3 Photos” and BAM! I had a Photostream.  It was easy! 

I think I could talking my 80 year old dad through doing this, and I probably should.  He has so many images on his computer, he can never find anything.  This would be a great way for him to back them up, organize them, and then share them.  He figured out how to share photos on Facebook by himself, and I think Flickr is much easier.

I’m not much of picture taker.  I had a prime chance last week to take a picture of a bear eating berries in my side yard, but I did not even think of it.  Then just few days ago a humming bird was checking out my window screen not four feet from me, but did I grab my camera phone and take a picture?  Of course not.  I do think to take pictures of my grandsons, but that is about it.

Flickr may not be something I use, but my dad and daughter-in-law are getting a crash course on it soon.  They both take a lot of picture of people and places I’d enjoy seeing.  Flickr is easy to learn, and they give you a full terabyte of storage space.  I do not know how many pictures fit in a terabyte, but it is a lot!

To check out my Flickr feed go to:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/100974506@N02/

Reviewing Open Source Software: Mozilla Thunderbird

I'm not sure why, but I had a hard time finding a third Open Source program to review.  It seemed like everything I downloaded was full of things I did not want to put on my machine.  Things like toolbars, homepage changes, third party applications, and so on.  That is my major complaint about Open Source software.  It often tries to push all this extra garbage on you.  The junk is even packaged in a way that makes it look you are agreeing to the terms of use when you are actually agreeing to have "bonus" software installed. 

I finally broke down and quit trying to find something new and different that none of my other classmates would be reviewing.  Instead, I downloaded Mozilla Thunderbird.  Boy was I pleased; no extra toolbars, no changing my homepage, just the program.  When I launched it for the first time, it ask for my full name, email address, and password.  Then just like Outlook 2010 it went out to the Internet, verified my email address and password, and automatically configured itself.  The next thing I knew, it was downloading my Gmail.

Much like Open Office, if you know Microsoft Outlook, it is just going to take a little fumbling around to figure out how to do things.  It's not difficult to use at all.  It's just a little, and I mean very little, different.  I would not hesitate to recommend Thunderbird to anyone who wanted a desktop application for email.  I am a thrifty person my nature, but I also want quality.  Thunderbird delivers on both fronts.

Thunderbird offers features like the ability to create and organize your mail in multiple folders.  It can handle RSS feeds.  There is a good junk mail filter. It supports many mail services.  Whether it's a Microsoft Exchange server, POP, or IMAP email, Thunderbird can handle it.  It even comes with security features like digital signing, encryption, and a built-in phishing detector.  It also will not have a problem with HTML based emails.  Thunderbird does not just offer a basic desktop email client, it comes with all the bells and whistles you could want.

If I did not own Microsoft Office 2010 and 365, I'd use Thunderbird for my email needs.  The only feature I found missing is the ability to send a fax.  There maybe a way to force it use the Microsoft's Print to Fax feature, but it would have to have access to Windows TAPI engine so another work around like an Internet email to fax service would probably be easier.  All in all, I think Thunderbird is an awesome product and would suggest it to anyone.

Reviewing Open Source Software: Open Office

Open Office was the first Open Source program I ever heard of.  Prior to hearing about Open Office, I had always had Microsoft Office.  I used Microsoft Office skillfully, especially Word, Excel and Outlook, for years before ever receiving any training on them.  While working as a contractor at Microsoft, I was trained to support Microsoft Word 2000.  This training also included the basics of the other Microsoft Office 2000 programs because they can be used with Word.

Using Open Office was a little clumsy at first because things are just a little different.  However, the creators were definitely inspired by Microsoft Office because if you know how to use Microsoft Office, it is not hard at all to make the transition to Open Office. 

Since I have never received formal training on Open Office and just fumbled my way through teaching myself the basics of using it, I am not sure if it has all the cool features like WordArt. It definitely has all the basics you need to use it in any office environment. It is also able to open Microsoft Word and Excel files; and if you pay attention while saving your files, you can save them in standard Microsoft formats.  This means you do not have to worry that someone else might not be able to open your files because they have Microsoft Office.

If I were setting up an business and needed to have an office program but had a tight budget, I would use Open Office instead of buying the licenses for Microsoft Office on several computers.  It would take no time at all for anyone who already knows how to use a word processor and spreadsheet program to learn to use Open Office.  Besides, I have had Word and Excel crash on me numerous times, but I have never had that problem using Open Office.

Reviewing Open Source Software: Google Chrome (Open Source or Not?)

Let me first start with the premise that I learned to program on a Commodore Pet and 64, and it was torture.  I hate programming, even HTML gives me a migraine.  I like the principles behind Open Source, but I will not be taking advantage of the fact that a piece of software is Open Source by adding my own special touch to it.  So as for the debate about if Google Chrome is Open Source or not, my opinion is some people believe it is.  From what I have read from them if it is not Open Source, it's a kissing cousin to it.  I have listed some links below to some of those who think it is.  I am using Google Chrome as one the Open Source programs I am reviewing for a class project.

I have been online in some form for going on 30 years.  I have used a lot of browsers.  If it were not for a program called RoboForms, I would probably give up using Microsoft's Internet Explorer.  Google Chrome and Opera both work faster and recover better from errors, but RoboForms, which manages all my logins, passwords, and personal data is not as reliable in any browser other than IE.

In Chrome, specifically, sometimes the toolbar refuses to open at all.  Other times it will only take me to the website, but not log me in like it is suppose to.  So as far as the RoboForms plug-in working with Chrome I give it a C-.

Now with that being said, that's the only drawback.  Chrome loads faster that IE.  It works better on websites that use Flash.  It even seems to do a better job running Microsoft's Silverlight.  I love watching videos.  My computer has a 32" monitor for this specific reason.  I watch videos from Netflix and Amazon on Chrome and they load flawlessly and play perfectly.  The same videos, the same computer, using IE, they pause during playing to buffer.  Sometimes they lag while playing or simply just do not play at all.  So for video quality and playback I give Chrome an A+++.

I would definitely say that Chrome is a lighter, faster and more nimble browser than Internet Explorer.  However, I am not interested in switching to a different login manager at this time.  I have major problems with brain fog and have bouts of massive confusion.  RoboForms helps me more than I can say.  So for now, when I need to use RoboForms to login to a website, I use IE.  I am hopeful that with new updates someday it will be as reliable in other browsers like Chrome.

Back to the debate about whether or not Chrome is Open Source, I leave you with these links to people who know better than me.  Make up your own mind, if you really care.

Victoria

http://ostatic.com/chrome

http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chrome/girawCs8eMY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_(web_browser)

Web 2.0

This image represent Social Media

Better luck the 3rd time around - Wk 2 Assignment

The second site I tried to go to for our week 2 assignment was PostBubble.com but no luck there either.  The domain would not even resolve.  It was then that I took a good hard look at the Top 10 Blogs Following Web 2.0 site by Brian W. Williams and noticed the post is dated August 21, 2006.  No wonder I am having trouble with outdated and closed sites.  Not being someone who gives up easy, I kept looking and found Rev2.org which, Mr. Williams said, "This site covers everyday topics around Web 2.0, written by Sid Yadav of Queenstown, New Zealand".  Maybe that was true in 2006, but now it is run by a team of editors.

Rev2.org  seems to be a thriving blog site with up-to-date information about what is happening on the web today.  I'm not sure how they determine their layout because the post do not appear to be in order by date. It seems they might be organizing the stories more like a newspaper would; the hottest item gets the prime spot.

They do not seem to have a shortage of sponsors which is a good sign.  On their About page they talk about being dedicated to reporting on Web 2.0 startups and technologies through in-depth analysis.  Considering the top story on there page today is about Facebook's new search feature and the other stories on their site, I definitely can see that this holds true.

As a matter of fact, the only thing I really disliked about the site was their color scheme. The varied shades of turquoise made reading the menu bar across the top of the page difficult but not impossible.

The team at Rev2.org  seems to be dedicated to their mission and doing a good job keeping up-to-date and writing insightful pieces.

Bravo Rev2.org  keep up the good work!

Solution Watch out of date

For our week 2 assignment, to review two blogs from The Top Ten Blogs Following Web 2.0, by Brian Wynne Williams, the first blog I chose was number 10.  This blog is by Brian Benzinger and titled SolutionWatch .  Brian Wynne Williams says "Brian Benzinger provides well-written, in-depth reviews of emerging sites", however. when I checkout the blog, it's simply an archive.  It has not been updated since 2007.  There is a note from Brian Benzinger saying something along the lines of he hopes to get back to updating the blog when time allows. 

Hmmm....last post in 2007 and now it's well past the halfway point in 2013.  Maybe this one should not listed in the top 10 anymore.  What is there is well written and thoughtful, but it is all old news. Definitely, not what I have expected from one of the Top 10, even when it is the one in last place.

Hi!  My name is Victoria and I'm creating this blog for my Web 2.0 class at the American Public University System.

This is my second years at APUS and even though it is hard work and sometimes difficult I am enjoying it.  Right now my major is Psychology, but I am not sure I will be keeping it there. I am very interested in computers and had a previous career in Technical Support so I'm tempted to change to some IT major. However, I also have some very promising opportunities in the real estate field so that is another option.

Ta-ta for now!
V