Hawaii Web Consulting » interaction

Journalism schools using and teaching social media

Mark — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:35:01 +0000

Back when I went to j-school, the Internet wasn’t considered a form of “mass media” yet. It was still pretty well limited to email and clunky browsers with limited information. Well, obviously that’s all changed. Journalism schools are teaching about how social media (things like blogs, twitter, facebook, etc.) are changing the way information is communicated, often making it into the “traditional mass media” (newspaper, television, radio).

Mashable has an interesting article 10 Ways Journalism Schools Are Teaching Social Media. This includes News Gathering and Reporting, something that shouldn’t be much of a surprise to those watching CNN recently. Here’s a funny clip from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on just how much CNN is relying on these new social media feeds:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

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Jason Jones in Iran

drop.io: Simple, fast, free file sharing

Mark — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:22:03 +0000

drop.io has to be one of the simplest sites I’ve ever seen. It’s gotten more bells and whistles over time, but still, it’s dead simple to set up a place on the Internet to share your files. And it’s FREE! Here’s how it works: Visit their site Either accept the random drop site name they [...]

Sync Files Between Computers, Even PC/Mac: Dropbox

Mark — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:41:47 +0000

If you are like most people, you have a work and home computer. They may even be on different platforms — like a Mac at home and PC at work. There are several solutions out there, but the one I want to discuss is Dropbox. Dropbox allows you to easily set up a “cloud” storage space that can sync between your computers. That’s 2GB of FREE storage that you can share, backup, or sync files with.

You can set up hidden or public folders, even share your photos with others through Dropbox. And, best, it just seems to work. I’ve used it since it was beta, and I’ve only had 1 problem with it. And that just was because I was running an older version on one of my computers. Upgraded and all worked fine again!

How does it compare to some other solutions? It’s similar to both Syncplicity and Microsoft’s livemesh, though for me, both of those solutions were more difficult to get set up (and for livemesh, a pain on updates).

If you are looking for a fast, free solution to file storage and syncing, check out Dropbox.

Small businesses to use more social networking tools

Mark — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:46:43 +0000

An article today from eMarketer finds that small business plan to spend more online using social networking tools. These tools might include things like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, even YouTube:

More small businesses said they would increase their spending on social networking than on any other format.

via Small Businesses’ Online Plans – eMarketer

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MacHeist: new “loot” for those that can solve puzzles

Mark — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:00:48 +0000

If you own a Mac and love solving puzzles, then you should check out MacHeist. Through solving a series of intricately designed puzzles, riddles, visual clues, and cryptograms, you can get several free programs, including Process. Sign up for an account, and off you go solving clues found in the Briefings.

I tried my first one this week, after learning about MacHeist from their holiday giveaway called, Mac Giving Tree. Reading the briefings, following some of the hints others had left in the forums, visiting the various web sites they had set up, and checking my “Loot” area, I found I had solved one puzzle to get Process.

Be forewarned that if you aren’t familiar with these kinds of puzzles, it will be confusing to begin with. Hang with it, get help from others, and have some fun! Learn more at: MacHeist [This is a great idea for building a community, generating lots of "buzz" (including tons of tweets), and keeping membership high.]

Upcoming Unconferenz: February 7th

Mark — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 03:25:51 +0000

An upcoming event that sounds very interesting: Unconferenz. Using Pecha Kucha which is basically a open discussion with limitations on each speaker of 20 slides and 20 seconds each slide.

Date: February 7, 2009, Saturday
Time: 8:00am to 4:00pm
Place: JAIMS (in Hawaii Kai)
6660 Hawaii Kai Dr
Honolulu, Hawaii 96825

Attendance: 50 – 100 Limited

Cost: $25 – This will include a t-shirt and lunch

Check out their site to register and get more information!

New web classes from Pacific New Media

Mark — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:50:07 +0000

University of Hawaii, Manoa campus, has several non-credit web classes coming up for Spring 2009. These are usually great for beginners (and even those who think they know everything!). The schedule is online at: UHM Outreach PNM.
Just a couple of standouts include:

Classes are generally on the Manoa campus or in their downtown location.

And don’t forget about the juried competition for digital images, “Survey of Digital Imagery in Hawaii “. Information about how to enter with your digital images is listed along with the dates and fees. Good luck!

Flash cookies and privacy

Mark — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:08:51 +0000

If you are concerned about your online privacy, then you should already know about “cookies” — small files that are stored on your computer that websites write information to. These cookies are largely used to help with the functionality of the website, maintaining your “session” as you move around the site. They can also store your login information, so you don’t have to enter your username and password each time. On the negative side of things, they can also be used to track you, recording what you choose each time you visit the site. And there are “tracking site” cookies used mostly by advertising sites. Because many websites have advertising on them, and many are from the same large advertising companies, those ad companies can “track” you on the websites that you visit, along with what you might have done on those “partner” sites.

There are multiple ways to handle cookies, but here is just one quick solution. If you use Firefox, you can still have the postive aspects of cookies, but have them deleted each time you close the browser — so, it’s like starting fresh each time with the website. You can control your cookies in Firefox by going to Tools, Options, Privacy (in Mac it’s File, Preferences, Privacy), and “Keep Cookies Until I Close Firefox”.

So, you think you are free of cookies then, right?! Not really. You may be still being tracked using “Flash cookies” — cookies that Adobe’s Flash program uses. Flash is what makes the videos on YouTube work, and are also some of the MOST ANNOYING ADS on the Internet.

How do you manage those Flash cookies? Well, it’s a bit more complicated, since to do it easily you have to visit Adobe’s website to see what’s on your computer. (The cookies are on YOUR computer, but to see them easily, you need to visit their website.) Once there, you should see the list of all the Flash cookies stored on your computer. You may be surprised, as I was, at the number of sites storing these cookies.

Prevent ALL Flash Cookies

You can “Delete All” the cookies, thereby starting from scratch with each site for their cookies. You can also choose to NOT allow third-party websites to store cookies by unchecking the option. As mentioned above, blocking cookies can make some sites not function correctly. For me, this includes one of my favorite sites, www.pandora.com‘s streaming radio.

Some other ways to help eliminate Flash cookies — besides not allowing them completely — is to use some Firefox extensions:

Adblock Plus: a WONDERFUL extension that helps eliminate LOTS of unwanted advertising. Install it, sign up for a free “subscription” (to keep it up to date), and enjoy the web again! (Some have complained that this add-on “steals” from website owners who use advertising to support their site. I would say that if your site only relies on easily-blockable, web-based ads to support it, then you’ve got a weak business model.)
NoScript: will load websites with Javascript and plug-ins (like Flash) turned OFF automatically. You can then choose which elements YOU want to add in. This is a little more complicated to use, but just as excellent! You can eliminate lots of nasties on websites you aren’t familiar with, simply by installing this. Once you are sure of the website, add it to the “whitelist” and you’ll get the full functionality again.

Those two add-ons mean that you are limiting your exposure to Flash cookies to the site you DO want, not as it is currently, allowing any website to add Flash cookies to your computer.

Hope that helps!

Additional Information:

Web Weavers Workshop with Lorelle VanFossen

Mark — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:12:00 +0000

Today was Web Weavers Workshop with Lorelle VanFossen, part of Hawaii’s Geek Week. Lorelle had a ton of great tips to go along with the basics of setting up a successful WordPress blog site. A large part of the information is in Lorelle’s book, but it was her discussions to student questions that often proved most helpful. Some sample tips:

watch using pronouns in blog articles. Readers might be confused on what “it” is, along with the SEO problem related to keywords.
do “brain dumps” and THEN edit. Unload your ideas completely and then go back and edit. And edit, and edit, and edit some more.
and if you are using more than 400 words from someone else’s web site, be prepared to hear copyright problems. In other words, keep your quoting of someone else’s material under 200 words or ask that writer for permission to use more.

Being a power-blogger, Lorelle had several shortcuts using Firefox, GreaseMonkey, and Google Reader, she even had tips on a great mouse that will power through web site scrolling.

It was a good class for anyone interested in learning about blogging, from beginners to those already blogging! Check out Lorelle’s web site for lots more information also!

“How Has WordPress Changed Your Life”…

Mark — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:35:29 +0000

During the opening event of Mactoberfest for Hawaii’s Geek Week, Lorelle VanFossen asked the audience, “How has WordPress changed your life?” She showed some great videos of how lives have been changed by using WordPress as a blogging software application for helping people express their lives. For me, WordPress has changed my life in two main ways, though not really because of blogging.

1) As a web developer looking to help clients solve their online needs, I’ve found one of the biggest requests I hear is, “How can I get a great looking website THAT’S EASY TO UPDATE for someone with no HTML skills.” I’ve tried finding the perfect CMS solution for those kind of requests, but keep coming back to WordPress.

You may think of WordPress as a blogging application, but with it’s ability to do “Pages” — separate articles that live outside of your scrolling blog posts — it can be used a very effective CMS (Content Management System). Pages can be those things that most static-HTML sites have; Contact Us, About Us, Resources, etc. Those pages that don’t change all that often. And, these “pages” can have sub-pages, just like static-HTML sites. (In other words, About Us, could have subpages of; Mission Statement, and Organizational Structure, for example.) Plus, the ability to use the “blogging” aspect of it as the company’s “News” section, helps balance the static with newer updates.

So, for a “blogging” application, WordPress works really well for clients needing a quick, easy-to-update website. And, WordPress’ user-friendly back-end makes even the most jaded clients WANT to try it.

2) WordPress MU (Multi-User): I work for a large non-profit organization that is often called a “think tank on East-West issues” since we bring in researchers, educators, and leaders from around the world for discussions, lectures, and conferences. I’ve found that WordPress MU allows me to quickly build a blog site for that conference group very quickly, where they can share their ideas before, during, and after the event. And with MU’s privacy settings, I can have blogs that are only accessible to those involved in that conference.

These blogs might have the agenda for the conference, or readings for the educational program, or, photos of all the attendees enjoying themselves. These things can be shared through email, though, having a common spot to post information and ideas which can be referred to later, is really beneficial to the participants.

In other words, WordPress MU provides a quick and easy way to build interaction within small groups of people as they get together, without the “fear” of having their comments and thoughts read by everyone in the world. And, by having the posts come from the event organizer, the “thread chaos” that happens in forums (multiple conversations on the same topic within different threads) is eliminated.

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For me then, WordPress has been a great solution to help build interaction for both small business owners and small-group participants. Thanks WordPress!