The Epistelesslogical Rupture figured out how to check out and download an eBook of Terry Pratchett's Small Gods. The Epistelesslogical Rupture has learned in these first few moments that the Epistelesslogical Rupture does not much like the experience of reading books on a computer screen. (Perhaps if college textbooks had been available at a discount as eBooks, the Epistelesslogical Rupture would embrace the concept of eBooks. eTextBooks wouldn't take up tons of space on bookshelves and wouldn't make moving from apartment to apartment such a cumbersome chore. Make textbooks eBooks. Students stare at computer screens for most of their time in college anyway.)
The Epistelesslogical Rupture spends a lot of time staring at computer screens for work, banking, correspondence, and recreation. So the Epistelesslogical Rupture prefers ink-and-paper books and magazines to reading more online. The Epistelesslogical Rupture also loves audiobooks. During graduate school, when reading meant "agonizing work," the Epistelesslogical Rupture re-discovered the world of audiobooks from childhood.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture realized that the Epistelesslogical Rupture could rest its eyes while listening to a book, could ride the El while listening to a book, could scoop nasty clumps of stuff you don't want to think about out of cat litter while listening to a book, could ride the El and drown out of the sounds of screaming children while listening to Jim Dale's narration of a Harry Potter volume, could travel to distant lands in real and imaginary lands, past, present and future, without getting out of bed or opening the Epistelesslogical Rupture's eyes.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture will stick with audiobooks for now.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Radical Trust: Just as Murphy was an optimist, so also the Epistelesslogical Rupture is a MOZART
Just as Murphy [of Murphy's Law] is said to have been an optimist, so also the Epistelesslogical Rupture one day will be said to have been a Most-Of-Ze'time Advocate for Radical Trust, or MOZART.
In an April 2006 blog entry, Darlene Fichter describes radical trust this way:
The Epistelesslogical Rupture celebrates and embraces the idea of radical trust, but the Epistelesslogical Rupture does not put all of its proverbial eggs in one radical basket of trust; nor does the Epistelesslogical Rupture wholly swallow, digest, and incorporate the idea of radical trust, complete with its literary hook, metaphorical line, and reality-testing sinker.
As one who was trained to be a publishing professional in a previous career, the Epistelesslogical Rupture initially flinched at the notion of empowering anyone and everyone with Internet access and a passion for creativity (i.e., not just the Privileged Few with Professional Training and Expensive Degrees)to be a publisher, or a writer, or an editor, or a photographer -- or all of these. But the tools of Web 2.0 in some sense do bring the power to the people; the design of Web 2.0 tools acknowledges that each person has the right/choice/power to contribute something to the community.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture often used Wikipedia to learn about the unfamiliar terms the Epistelesslogical Rupture encountered every few paragraphs in certain graduate school classes. Professors used Wikipedia as a teaching tool and recommended it as a research tool. There seem to be far fewer voices calling for the end of Wikipedia these days; perhaps the grand, old-fashioned, leather-bound, expensive, omniscient encyclopedia publisher's lobbying budget has dried up.
Last summer, the Epistelesslogical Rupture helped a professor-friend to prepare and contribute a requested entry for a non-wikiesque, ink-on-paper encyclopedia. In this process, the Epistelesslogical Rupture realized how, while the entry covered all the bases for this professor's lifelong, encyclopedic knowledge of the assigned topic, it is basically one man's thought on the topic. A wiki version of the same encyclopedia entry would have a radically different flavor, or combination of flavors. A young student, or an armchair philosopher, or a casual reader could have a stab at contributing to the entry, and in participating in the collaborative effort, all could learn from one another's wisdom.
In an April 2006 blog entry, Darlene Fichter describes radical trust this way:
Radical trust is about trusting the community. We know that
abuse can happen, but we trust (radically) that the community and participation
will work. In the real world, we know that vandalism happens but we still put
art and sculpture up in our parks. As an online community we come up with
safeguards or mechanisms that help keep open contribution and participation
working.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture celebrates and embraces the idea of radical trust, but the Epistelesslogical Rupture does not put all of its proverbial eggs in one radical basket of trust; nor does the Epistelesslogical Rupture wholly swallow, digest, and incorporate the idea of radical trust, complete with its literary hook, metaphorical line, and reality-testing sinker.
"Trust thy public, even those radicals among them," saith the Epistelesslogical Rupture unto the Skokians. "But be ye realistick also. Sometimes, as with them who are called "teen-agers," trust may need to be earned."
As one who was trained to be a publishing professional in a previous career, the Epistelesslogical Rupture initially flinched at the notion of empowering anyone and everyone with Internet access and a passion for creativity (i.e., not just the Privileged Few with Professional Training and Expensive Degrees)to be a publisher, or a writer, or an editor, or a photographer -- or all of these. But the tools of Web 2.0 in some sense do bring the power to the people; the design of Web 2.0 tools acknowledges that each person has the right/choice/power to contribute something to the community.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture often used Wikipedia to learn about the unfamiliar terms the Epistelesslogical Rupture encountered every few paragraphs in certain graduate school classes. Professors used Wikipedia as a teaching tool and recommended it as a research tool. There seem to be far fewer voices calling for the end of Wikipedia these days; perhaps the grand, old-fashioned, leather-bound, expensive, omniscient encyclopedia publisher's lobbying budget has dried up.
Last summer, the Epistelesslogical Rupture helped a professor-friend to prepare and contribute a requested entry for a non-wikiesque, ink-on-paper encyclopedia. In this process, the Epistelesslogical Rupture realized how, while the entry covered all the bases for this professor's lifelong, encyclopedic knowledge of the assigned topic, it is basically one man's thought on the topic. A wiki version of the same encyclopedia entry would have a radically different flavor, or combination of flavors. A young student, or an armchair philosopher, or a casual reader could have a stab at contributing to the entry, and in participating in the collaborative effort, all could learn from one another's wisdom.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
On Zombies: Epistelesslogical Rupture praises theory of Google Docs, lists frustrating practical limitations of Google Docs
As the Epistelesslogical Rupture was watching the Common Craft video on How to Identify a Zombie (which was a link from The Skokie Ten page on Google Docs), the Epistelesslogical Rupture realized that perhaps the creative folks at Common Craft were never going to get around to the part where they describe how zombies have something to do with Google Docs. The Epistelesslogical Rupture finally found the Common Craft page about Google Docs and watched it.
The Google Docs video from Common Craft wasn't as amusing as the zombie one, but it made sense of the "one file, many contributors" idea. Because the Epistelesslogical Rupture has a history in journalism, editing, and collaborative efforts, and because the Epistelesslogical Rupture often finds itself serving as the hub of a wheel with many spokes, the Epistelesslogical Rupture immediately saw the value of the "one file, many contributors" idea.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture has previously used Google Docs for basic word processing at public computer terminals which were not equipped with a word processor ... and the Epistelesslogical Rupture has also previously used Google Docs to edit a letter emailed to the Epistelesslogical Rupture by a colleague. However, the "one file, many contributors" idea was the cha-ching selling point tonight.
Nevertheless, the Epistelesslogical Rupture feels certain that Google is already aware of these limitations, and probably has a timetable for finessing those limitations into something more satisfying and productive, and less frustrating.
The Google Docs video from Common Craft wasn't as amusing as the zombie one, but it made sense of the "one file, many contributors" idea. Because the Epistelesslogical Rupture has a history in journalism, editing, and collaborative efforts, and because the Epistelesslogical Rupture often finds itself serving as the hub of a wheel with many spokes, the Epistelesslogical Rupture immediately saw the value of the "one file, many contributors" idea.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture has previously used Google Docs for basic word processing at public computer terminals which were not equipped with a word processor ... and the Epistelesslogical Rupture has also previously used Google Docs to edit a letter emailed to the Epistelesslogical Rupture by a colleague. However, the "one file, many contributors" idea was the cha-ching selling point tonight.
- The Epistelesslogical Rupture is currently working on a large-scale editing-and-revision project for the Epistelesslogical Rupture's employer, which involves taking a Word document and revising its contents, which then need to be reviewed and approved by two people, then eventually by ten people, then eventually by an additional eight people. Eureka! One file, many contributors. The Epistelesslogical Rupture decided to upload the Word doc (of the file needing revisions and a million approvals) to Google Docs.
However... Google Docs cannot upload a Word doc file of more than 500 kilobytes. The file needing revisions and a million approvals, because it contains some graphic elements, is 14.8 megabytes. So the simple, straightforward upload process stopped with an imprecise error message ("Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage...") Google Docs is a great idea, but it should be able to offer to extract the text from a graphic-heavy Word doc, instead of grinding to a halt without explaining why. If the Epistelesslogical Rupture has time, the Epistelesslogical Rupture will plan to cut and paste the text of the Word doc into Google Docs. But chances are, the Epistelesslogical Rupture will choose to use Word for its collaborative needs for this task. - The Epistelesslogical Rupture's second issue with Google Docs is Docs' lack of support for footnotes. The Epistelesslogical Rupture was helping to type a chapter of an academic book for a professorial friend when the manuscript called for a footnote. The Epistelesslogical Rupture looked for a footnote tool in Google Docs, but found none. The Epistelesslogical Rupture searched Google Docs help center for support, but found only that Google Docs does not currently support footnotes or endnotes.
- The Epistelesslogical Rupture's third issue with Google Docs is like the first: the Epistelesslogical Rupture has a friend who had to, with a graduate school classmate, assemble a Powerpoint presentation for a class discussion they were leading together. The two had a cumbersome time emailing Powerpoint presentations back and forth to each other until the files became too big to email back and forth anymore. Then, it fell on the shoulders of one of them to finish the presentation solo at the last minute. Had they attempted to upload their presentation to Google Docs to edit it there, they would've had the same limitation: Google Docs will upload a presentation (such as a Powerpoint presentation) of up to 10 megabytes, but the cumbersome Powerpoint was larger than 10 megabytes. A company like Google that can provide 5GB of email storage per Gmail user can provide better upload limits.
Nevertheless, the Epistelesslogical Rupture feels certain that Google is already aware of these limitations, and probably has a timetable for finessing those limitations into something more satisfying and productive, and less frustrating.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Epistelesslogical Rupture discovers loves of podcasts ... for the first time ... again
The Epistelesslogical Rupture has discovered its love of podcasts ... for the first time ... again.
The Winning Non-Library-Related Podcast
After following the Onion Radio News podcast via Gmail RSS feeds for most of 2006, something suddenly changed in the way that the Onion Radio News podcast posted its daily newsbriefs in RSS. Consequently, the Epistelesslogical Rupture spent most of 2007 in a state of disbelief ... believing that the Epistelesslogical Rupture would never again be able to download the Onion Radio News podcast without using iTunes. The Epistelesslogical Rupture was very, very sad.
Imagine the Epistelesslogical Rupture's surprise when the Epistelesslogical Rupture discovered, through the guidance provided by the fine folks at theskokieten.blogspot.com, that the Epistelesslogical Rupture could once again access and download the Onion Radio News on a daily basis through a subscription in Google Reader ... (You see, the Epistelesslogical Rupture finds that an excellent holiday gift for warped family members is a best-of-the-year compilation CD using the best of the worst from the Onion Radio News...)
The Epistelesslogical Rupture sends many thanks to The Skokie Ten Team for unlocking this secret, for solving the Riddle of the Onion Podcast, for enabling the Epistelesslogical Rupture to access immature humor more easily.
The Winning Library-Related Podcast
More importantly, the Epistelesslogical Rupture learned that there are a
lot of podcasts out there other than the Onion Radio News. One podcast of particular interest is LibVibe, a weekly five-to-seven-minute newscast about libraries. While this is approximately four times longer than the average Onion Radio News brief, the Epistelesslogical Rupture found the professional quality and content of the reporting to be highly interesting and engaging. If the Epistelesslogical Rupture has set it up properly, you can click on the LibVibe logo at right to connect to the LibVibe podcast blog. If not, click here instead. The url for the feed is http://feeds.feedburner.com/LibVibe
The Non-Winning, Quasi-Library-Related Podcast
Less enjoyable was the Epistelesslogical Rupture's adventure with the esoteric, free-verse content of the Secret Library Science Research Lab podcast. The Epistelesslogical Rupture by definition is accustomed to being less logical. The Secret Library Science Research Lab podcast takes less logical to new heights, and the Epistelesslogical Rupture is scared of those sorts of heights.
Some Things Are Coming Together
The Epistelesslogical Rupture is also learning to appreciate the power of GoogleR eader as the Epistelesslogical Rupture continues to explore the ways it intersects with podcasts, and in the way that the Epistelesslogical Rupture can access its Google Reader and Picasa content from the Epistlesslogical Rupture's cell phone web browser.
The Winning Non-Library-Related Podcast
After following the Onion Radio News podcast via Gmail RSS feeds for most of 2006, something suddenly changed in the way that the Onion Radio News podcast posted its daily newsbriefs in RSS. Consequently, the Epistelesslogical Rupture spent most of 2007 in a state of disbelief ... believing that the Epistelesslogical Rupture would never again be able to download the Onion Radio News podcast without using iTunes. The Epistelesslogical Rupture was very, very sad.
Imagine the Epistelesslogical Rupture's surprise when the Epistelesslogical Rupture discovered, through the guidance provided by the fine folks at theskokieten.blogspot.com, that the Epistelesslogical Rupture could once again access and download the Onion Radio News on a daily basis through a subscription in Google Reader ... (You see, the Epistelesslogical Rupture finds that an excellent holiday gift for warped family members is a best-of-the-year compilation CD using the best of the worst from the Onion Radio News...)
The Epistelesslogical Rupture sends many thanks to The Skokie Ten Team for unlocking this secret, for solving the Riddle of the Onion Podcast, for enabling the Epistelesslogical Rupture to access immature humor more easily.
The Winning Library-Related Podcast
More importantly, the Epistelesslogical Rupture learned that there are a
lot of podcasts out there other than the Onion Radio News. One podcast of particular interest is LibVibe, a weekly five-to-seven-minute newscast about libraries. While this is approximately four times longer than the average Onion Radio News brief, the Epistelesslogical Rupture found the professional quality and content of the reporting to be highly interesting and engaging. If the Epistelesslogical Rupture has set it up properly, you can click on the LibVibe logo at right to connect to the LibVibe podcast blog. If not, click here instead. The url for the feed is http://feeds.feedburner.com/LibVibeThe Non-Winning, Quasi-Library-Related Podcast
Less enjoyable was the Epistelesslogical Rupture's adventure with the esoteric, free-verse content of the Secret Library Science Research Lab podcast. The Epistelesslogical Rupture by definition is accustomed to being less logical. The Secret Library Science Research Lab podcast takes less logical to new heights, and the Epistelesslogical Rupture is scared of those sorts of heights.
Some Things Are Coming Together
The Epistelesslogical Rupture is also learning to appreciate the power of GoogleR eader as the Epistelesslogical Rupture continues to explore the ways it intersects with podcasts, and in the way that the Epistelesslogical Rupture can access its Google Reader and Picasa content from the Epistlesslogical Rupture's cell phone web browser.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Epistlesslogical Rupture adds most powerful search engine in the world to social bookmarking site, discovers unused tags
The Epi.stel.ess.log.ic.al Rup.tu.re is plea.sed to re.po.rt that it has suc.cess.ful.ly ad.de.d Zombo.com, the world's most po.we.rf.ul sea.rch engi.ne, to del.icio.us, the world's tas.ti.est soc.ial bo.ok.mar.king site.
436 other del.icio.us users have had the same id.ea. But none of them have tagged Zombo.com with the words omniscience, omnipotence, or infinite. The Epistelesslogical Rupture, however, did.
Indeed, the Epistelesslogical Rupture was the first del.icio.us user ever to use the tags omniscience, omnipotence, and infinite. The Epistelesslogical Rupture was, frankly, disappointed to find no other sites tagged with these really all-encompassing tags.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture recommends using tags including epistelesslogical, skokie, mostwanted, reference, betterthanbordersorbarnesornoble, and chillax.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture has had very limited exposure to social bookmarking, and is not immediately impressed by it. Perhaps the Epistelesslogical Rupture will be swayed in the future.
Important Clarification & Correction: The Epistelesslogical Rupture has received a communique from a family member who was under the impression that the word epistelesslogical had something to do with epistles, which it does not. In some previous posts, it is possible that the word epistelesslogical was accidentally misspelled epistlesslogical (i.e., without the second e). The Epistelesslogical Rupture regrets these errors.
436 other del.icio.us users have had the same id.ea. But none of them have tagged Zombo.com with the words omniscience, omnipotence, or infinite. The Epistelesslogical Rupture, however, did.
Indeed, the Epistelesslogical Rupture was the first del.icio.us user ever to use the tags omniscience, omnipotence, and infinite. The Epistelesslogical Rupture was, frankly, disappointed to find no other sites tagged with these really all-encompassing tags.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture recommends using tags including epistelesslogical, skokie, mostwanted, reference, betterthanbordersorbarnesornoble, and chillax.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture has had very limited exposure to social bookmarking, and is not immediately impressed by it. Perhaps the Epistelesslogical Rupture will be swayed in the future.
Important Clarification & Correction: The Epistelesslogical Rupture has received a communique from a family member who was under the impression that the word epistelesslogical had something to do with epistles, which it does not. In some previous posts, it is possible that the word epistelesslogical was accidentally misspelled epistlesslogical (i.e., without the second e). The Epistelesslogical Rupture regrets these errors.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Epistelesslogical Rupture removes invisibility cloak on GoogleTalk without attracting attention of stalker
The Epistelesslogical Rupture is delighted to report that it was able to temporarily remove its "invisibility cloak" on GoogleTalk, without attracting the attention of a friend who, in the past, has tended to overwhelm and detain the Epistelesslogical Rupture.
"When chatting online, some people don't observe particularly good self-boundaries," the Epistelesslogical Rupture explained.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture is a GoogleTalk guru, and previously spent much time IM chatting with friends and colleagues on GoogleTalk. One of the Epistelesslogical Rupture's conversation partners -- A Certain Party, let us say -- tended to ignore the Epistelesslogical Rupture's "busy" sign, until the Epistelesslogical Rupture decided to log out of GoogleTalk.
And not log back in.
For a long time.
So, for almost six months, the Epistlesslogical Rupture was signed out of GoogleTalk, in a blissful and serene state of existence.
You can imagine the Epistlesslogical Rupture's anxiety when the Epistlesslogical Rupture was asked to have a GoogleTalk conversation with A Chosen Partner. Since the Epistlesslogical Rupture could not determine exactly how to sign into GoogleTalk without broadcasting that being signed in to parties including, but not limited to, A Certain Party with whom the Epistelesslogical Rupture was not overly eager to chat or talk, the Epistlesslogical Rupture was a bit choked up.
The moment arrived, and the Epistelesslogical Rupture logged ... into ... GoogleTalk.
However, for almost 20 minutes, the forces of good in this world were aligned in ways that permitted the Epistelesslogical Rupture to converse with A Chosen Partner and to share a website with A Chosen Partner without ever being detected by A Certain Party. It was, in a word, sublime.
The Epistlesslogical Rupture is again safely behind the firewall of logoutedness, the invisibility cloak of inaccessibility ... but the Epistlesslogical Rupture feels stronger than before.
The Small Print: The indented portions of the Epistlesslogical Rupture's entry for today were begun by Edgar Allan Poe in 1843 and completed by the Epistlesslogical Rupture in 2007. The Epistlesslogical Rupture hereby grants the estate of Edgar Allan Poe the right to continue publishing the short story, "The Tell-Tale Heart," in its unfinished 1843 form, without the necessity of mentioning the 2007 redactions by the Epistlesslogical Rupture.
"When chatting online, some people don't observe particularly good self-boundaries," the Epistelesslogical Rupture explained.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture is a GoogleTalk guru, and previously spent much time IM chatting with friends and colleagues on GoogleTalk. One of the Epistelesslogical Rupture's conversation partners -- A Certain Party, let us say -- tended to ignore the Epistelesslogical Rupture's "busy" sign, until the Epistelesslogical Rupture decided to log out of GoogleTalk.
And not log back in.
For a long time.
So, for almost six months, the Epistlesslogical Rupture was signed out of GoogleTalk, in a blissful and serene state of existence.
You can imagine the Epistlesslogical Rupture's anxiety when the Epistlesslogical Rupture was asked to have a GoogleTalk conversation with A Chosen Partner. Since the Epistlesslogical Rupture could not determine exactly how to sign into GoogleTalk without broadcasting that being signed in to parties including, but not limited to, A Certain Party with whom the Epistelesslogical Rupture was not overly eager to chat or talk, the Epistlesslogical Rupture was a bit choked up.
The moment arrived, and the Epistelesslogical Rupture logged ... into ... GoogleTalk.
There came to the Epistlesslogical Rupture's ears a low, dull,
quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in
cotton. The Epistelesslogical Rupture knew that sound well too.
It increased the Epistlesslogical Rupture's fury as the beating of a
drum stimulates the soldier into courage.
But even yet the Epistlesslogical Rupture refrained and kept
still. The Epistelesslogical Rupture scarcely breathed.
(TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous the Epistelesslogical
Rupture had been and is; but why WILL you say that the
Epistelesslogical Rupture is mad?)
However, for almost 20 minutes, the forces of good in this world were aligned in ways that permitted the Epistelesslogical Rupture to converse with A Chosen Partner and to share a website with A Chosen Partner without ever being detected by A Certain Party. It was, in a word, sublime.
The Epistlesslogical Rupture is again safely behind the firewall of logoutedness, the invisibility cloak of inaccessibility ... but the Epistlesslogical Rupture feels stronger than before.
The Small Print: The indented portions of the Epistlesslogical Rupture's entry for today were begun by Edgar Allan Poe in 1843 and completed by the Epistlesslogical Rupture in 2007. The Epistlesslogical Rupture hereby grants the estate of Edgar Allan Poe the right to continue publishing the short story, "The Tell-Tale Heart," in its unfinished 1843 form, without the necessity of mentioning the 2007 redactions by the Epistlesslogical Rupture.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Epistelesslogical Rupture gets kickr out of flickr
The Epistelesslogical Rupture is pleased to have already accomplished some Thing this week. Require the Epistlesslogical Rupture to take photographs of whatever it wishes and publish them on the web, as a job requirement? The Epistlesslogical Rupture loves this sort of assignment, having had a long-term relationship with photography.
Indeed, the Epistelesslogical Rupture is said to have gotten a "kickr" out of its exploration of Flickr. This "kickr" was not just the ease with which the Epistelesslogical Rupture was able to accomplish the tasks asked of it, but a humility-inducing awareness of how many far-superior photographers there are in the world, just by comparing my tags on Flickr with other users who have posted images with similar tags. Wow! There's some amazing work out there.
In 1995, when the Epistelesslogical Rupture took a photojournalism class at Syracuse University, the film and chemicals for one semester's work cost over $500 ... that's not including the $2,000 in camera equipment or the $1,000 in tuition -- or the environmental and public health costs associated with manufacturing, using, and disposing of those photographic chemicals. Since then, high-quality photography has become accessible to a far larger slice of the pie of the people through digital photography; and it is infinitely easier to share one's photos via the web. And many cell phones (even phones that may not facilitate great phone calls) can empower the owner to take great photographs.
It would be shortsighted for the Epistelesslogical Rupture to claim that anyone can be a photographer in the digital age, because there are billions upon billions of people for whom a cell phone that can take pictures would not be as high a priority as, for example, food, shelter, medicine, car insurance, self-esteem, or a pair of shoes. And some people just don't take particularly good photos...
( ... which is what you may be thinking as you review the photos the Epistelesslogical Rupture posted on its blog earlier today.... )
As to the question about ways of using Flickr in a public library, the Epistlesslogical Rupture would wonder whether a given library's "no cameras" policy might be adjusted to permit certain volunteers and/or patrons to use cameras in and around the library to contribute images. If one of the "gifts" of blogs and digital photography and Flickr and Web 2.0 is that "anyone can do it" (i.e., power to the people) then should everyone be invited -- and allowed -- to make a contribution? Just a thought ...
Indeed, the Epistelesslogical Rupture is said to have gotten a "kickr" out of its exploration of Flickr. This "kickr" was not just the ease with which the Epistelesslogical Rupture was able to accomplish the tasks asked of it, but a humility-inducing awareness of how many far-superior photographers there are in the world, just by comparing my tags on Flickr with other users who have posted images with similar tags. Wow! There's some amazing work out there.
In 1995, when the Epistelesslogical Rupture took a photojournalism class at Syracuse University, the film and chemicals for one semester's work cost over $500 ... that's not including the $2,000 in camera equipment or the $1,000 in tuition -- or the environmental and public health costs associated with manufacturing, using, and disposing of those photographic chemicals. Since then, high-quality photography has become accessible to a far larger slice of the pie of the people through digital photography; and it is infinitely easier to share one's photos via the web. And many cell phones (even phones that may not facilitate great phone calls) can empower the owner to take great photographs.
It would be shortsighted for the Epistelesslogical Rupture to claim that anyone can be a photographer in the digital age, because there are billions upon billions of people for whom a cell phone that can take pictures would not be as high a priority as, for example, food, shelter, medicine, car insurance, self-esteem, or a pair of shoes. And some people just don't take particularly good photos...
( ... which is what you may be thinking as you review the photos the Epistelesslogical Rupture posted on its blog earlier today.... )
As to the question about ways of using Flickr in a public library, the Epistlesslogical Rupture would wonder whether a given library's "no cameras" policy might be adjusted to permit certain volunteers and/or patrons to use cameras in and around the library to contribute images. If one of the "gifts" of blogs and digital photography and Flickr and Web 2.0 is that "anyone can do it" (i.e., power to the people) then should everyone be invited -- and allowed -- to make a contribution? Just a thought ...
Early Evening at Brothers K
I decided, after several hours work, to explore the contrast in two similar images. I remember a film where a shopowner takes a photograph of a street corner every morning in precisely the same location for many years. Nothing quite so profound am I attempting to undertake here. Note, for example, that my water glass is nearly empty.
Early Afternoon at Brothers K
As I began working, I noticed that the condensation on the window in front of me was framing the art deco lettering, as the steamy coffeehouse reacted against the chill of the outside air. Note my water glass is nearly full. The afternoon's project was editing a memoir for a professor-friend.
Non-Green Leaves on Greenleaf St.
I took this using my camera phone one afternoon this chilly autumn weekend before the rains came and soggied the crispness of this lovely sidewalk leafscape.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Epistelesslogical Rupture fails to accomplish any Thing before onset of weekend
Despite its best scheduling efforts, the Epistelesslogical Rupture is officially beginning its weekend without accomplishing any Thing.
"Five days of thrills, chills, and excitement, and what do I have to show for it? Just this lousy blog entry!" the Epistelesslogical Rupture exclaimed.
"Oh... and a much-needed paycheck! Oops..." the Epistelesslogical Rupture added, sheepishly.
"Oh... and many, many, many, many hours of practical experience observing, decoding, celebrating and lamenting the twisted developmental labyrinth of adolescents," the Epistelesslogical Rupture went on.
"Oh... and a 700% increase in connections on LinkedIn.com," the Epistelesslogical Rupture concluded. "Woo hoo!"
"Five days of thrills, chills, and excitement, and what do I have to show for it? Just this lousy blog entry!" the Epistelesslogical Rupture exclaimed.
"Oh... and a much-needed paycheck! Oops..." the Epistelesslogical Rupture added, sheepishly.
"Oh... and many, many, many, many hours of practical experience observing, decoding, celebrating and lamenting the twisted developmental labyrinth of adolescents," the Epistelesslogical Rupture went on.
"Oh... and a 700% increase in connections on LinkedIn.com," the Epistelesslogical Rupture concluded. "Woo hoo!"
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Epistelesslogical Rupture blazes trail into social networking
The Epistelesslogical Rupture is pleased to announce success in establishing numerous connections to colleagues, friends and family throughout the world using the awesomated* tools of LinkedIn.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture has previous experience with MySpace (ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads) and with Gather.com (which has been a royal disappointment), and would recommend neither. LinkedIn provided the best interface for connecting with folks, and the age range of connections was astounding. Indeed, today the Epistelesslogical Rupture has managed to locate long-lost colleagues dating all the way back to college ... which was when Twenty-First Century Fox was still 20th Century Fox.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture was particularly captivated by the ease with which the Epistelesslogical Rupture was able to allow the LinkedIn system search its Gmail account for contacts who were already LinkedIn members. This same tool was allegedly available on MySpace, but never worked.
What does the Epistlesslogical Rupture hate about MySpace? MySpace revived the early childhood trauma loop of the unpopular kid, which goes like this: "Will you be my friend?" "No." Repeat as desired. Elementary school at its best. Repeated in adulthood on MySpace. Willingly... Except it's worse, because in adulthood, we've learned that it's rude to say "No," so our MySpace page may contain people who we have "friended" out of politesse oblige.
With LinkedIn, this false binarism is masked somewhat: "Mr. Q has invited you to be part of his professional network at LinkedIn," or something along those lines. It sounds much more professional, and it certainly beats using the word "friend" as a verb (e.g., "will you friend me?"). If an invitee responds negatively to a LinkedIn invite, they can decline out of busy-ness without disclaiming the inviter's friendship.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture has already received three replies to its invitations to LinkedIn, all of them affirmative. So there, childhood bullies. Take that.
*awesomated is a service mark of the Epistelesslogical Rupture
The Epistelesslogical Rupture has previous experience with MySpace (ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads) and with Gather.com (which has been a royal disappointment), and would recommend neither. LinkedIn provided the best interface for connecting with folks, and the age range of connections was astounding. Indeed, today the Epistelesslogical Rupture has managed to locate long-lost colleagues dating all the way back to college ... which was when Twenty-First Century Fox was still 20th Century Fox.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture was particularly captivated by the ease with which the Epistelesslogical Rupture was able to allow the LinkedIn system search its Gmail account for contacts who were already LinkedIn members. This same tool was allegedly available on MySpace, but never worked.
What does the Epistlesslogical Rupture hate about MySpace? MySpace revived the early childhood trauma loop of the unpopular kid, which goes like this: "Will you be my friend?" "No." Repeat as desired. Elementary school at its best. Repeated in adulthood on MySpace. Willingly... Except it's worse, because in adulthood, we've learned that it's rude to say "No," so our MySpace page may contain people who we have "friended" out of politesse oblige.
With LinkedIn, this false binarism is masked somewhat: "Mr. Q has invited you to be part of his professional network at LinkedIn," or something along those lines. It sounds much more professional, and it certainly beats using the word "friend" as a verb (e.g., "will you friend me?"). If an invitee responds negatively to a LinkedIn invite, they can decline out of busy-ness without disclaiming the inviter's friendship.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture has already received three replies to its invitations to LinkedIn, all of them affirmative. So there, childhood bullies. Take that.
*awesomated is a service mark of the Epistelesslogical Rupture
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Epistelesslogical Rupture survives foray into uncharted territory of Really Simple Syndication.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture has emerged unscathed after its first in-depth foray into the alien territory known as Really Simple Syndication.
Though the Epistelesslogical Rupture previously had followed RSS headlines from The Onion and The New York Times in Gmail for more than a year, it was until now unaware of more formalized RSS readers, such as Google Reader and Bloglines.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture is not entirely certain if Google Reader will be the Epistelesslogical Rupture's long-term choice for Really Simple Syndication, or whether the Epistelesslogical Rupture will explore other options for its Really Simple Syndication needs.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture has chosen a handful of feeds to review using Google Reader, including new audiobooks of both fiction and non-fiction leanings in the Epistelesslogical Rupture's public lye-berry of choice, the blog of the Complaints Choir of Chicago, and the Motley Fool, among other feeds.
The Epistlesslogical Rupture is also pleased to have chosen Adam's Fun With Photoshop as its Partner Blog of the Day, and has added an RSS feed of Adam's Fun With Photoshop to its Google Reader account.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture's Partner Blog of the Day program is made possible by a generous grant from the law firm of Schwa, Umlaut, Circonflex & Cedille, LLP, GmbH, S.A.
Though the Epistelesslogical Rupture previously had followed RSS headlines from The Onion and The New York Times in Gmail for more than a year, it was until now unaware of more formalized RSS readers, such as Google Reader and Bloglines.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture is not entirely certain if Google Reader will be the Epistelesslogical Rupture's long-term choice for Really Simple Syndication, or whether the Epistelesslogical Rupture will explore other options for its Really Simple Syndication needs.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture has chosen a handful of feeds to review using Google Reader, including new audiobooks of both fiction and non-fiction leanings in the Epistelesslogical Rupture's public lye-berry of choice, the blog of the Complaints Choir of Chicago, and the Motley Fool, among other feeds.
The Epistlesslogical Rupture is also pleased to have chosen Adam's Fun With Photoshop as its Partner Blog of the Day, and has added an RSS feed of Adam's Fun With Photoshop to its Google Reader account.
The Epistelesslogical Rupture's Partner Blog of the Day program is made possible by a generous grant from the law firm of Schwa, Umlaut, Circonflex & Cedille, LLP, GmbH, S.A.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
The Epistelesslogical Rupture announces strategic partnership with eight-million-year-old international law firm
The Epistelesslogical Rupture is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Schwa, Umlaut, Circonflex & Cedille, Attorneys-at-Law, LLP, GmbH, S.A., an international law firm which recently celebrated its eight-millionth year serving the legal needs of Homo habilis and Homo erectus.
Charles Schwa, Heinrich von Umlaut, Segolene Cironflex and Cecile Cedille will serve as honorary life trustees and controlling shareholders on the board of the Epistelesslogical Rupture.
For more information on Schwa, Umlaut, Circonflex & Cedille, Attorneys-at-Law, LLP, GmbH, S.A., please click here.
As the fine folks in corporate communications at Staples like to say, "that was easy®"
Charles Schwa, Heinrich von Umlaut, Segolene Cironflex and Cecile Cedille will serve as honorary life trustees and controlling shareholders on the board of the Epistelesslogical Rupture.
For more information on Schwa, Umlaut, Circonflex & Cedille, Attorneys-at-Law, LLP, GmbH, S.A., please click here.
As the fine folks in corporate communications at Staples like to say, "that was easy®"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)