Talking with Mobile Things

Thing 7 is Communicating.

I found it interesting that the 23 People's first paragraph states "It often seems as though distance and time are the enemy, yet there are many opportunities to work together using technology to break down the tyranny of distance. In this Thing we’re taking a closer look at Skype and Google+ Hangouts to see how libraries are using them to deliver client focused services and to work together as teams."

As 'Tyranny of distance' is the title I used for the slide on my 'IT in history' presentation, where I discussed this topic - I've reproduced it below.

 

Here are just 3 of the most popular methods of talking & conferencing online.

Facetime - make video calls with WiFi on your iPhone, iPad or Mac computer.
Skype - is the most popular application on the market for making video calls, mobile calls, and sending instant messages and SMS. Good for group teleconferencing as it works on most devices phone, smart TV, PC or Mac.  
With Google+ Hangouts you can make video calls, send messages and photos, it works on computers, Android and Apple devices. Users can share documents, or over Google+. 
All basic services are free, until you reach 10 or more people, then you start paying money.
 
We use Skype to communicate with the rest of the Swift libraries, it allows people spread 'round the state to communicate remotely, and coupled with screen-sharing products, allows staff to work together without spending half their time traveling. I've seen Google+ Hangouts operate, but with people who already had Google accounts (if it can be utilised by the Space Station, then there's really no tyranny of distance). I think using it for bookclubs is a great idea for those people who avoid joining bookclubs due to time or location limitations - you could even participate in a session in your jim-jams.

The ultimate assignment

I may have found my new job - being a Trekker for Google Maps (provided I could choose my destinations).

It is all due to another of WebUrbanist's posts - 'Extreme Street View: Google Employee Maps Deserted Island'

The abandoned apartments on Gunkanjima

I've blogged about Gunkanjima before in 2009 in Abandoned towns. Occupied for over a century, and briefly the world’s most densely-populated island - Gunkanjima, off the coast of Nagasaki in Japan is now one of the loneliest places on the planet. A giant concrete wall surrounds the ship-shaped ‘Battleship Island’, giving it its nickname. At one point it was packed with an average of 1.4 residents per square meter of space, almost like an overcrowded sea vessel. In the 19^th century the island was a coal mining facility with residences for 5,000 miners. By the 1970s mining was in decline and the island was abandoned. It has transformed into a decayed yet eerie place as nature has reclaimed much of the land mass.

A tree grows in Gunkanjima

The island featured as the villian’s secret hideout in the James Bond “Skyfall” movie.

Parts of the deserted island have been reopened to the public in 2009 and become something of a tourist destination, but Google secured special permission to go beyond the cordoned-off areas and pass through long-abandoned buildings that only intrepid infiltrators have seen in recent decades past.

The lone urban explorer passing through the haunting multi-storey ruins

Strapped with panoramic photography equipment, this video shows a lone Google employee crawling through rubble, scaling partially caved-in abandonments and standing on precarious roofs, all to document one of the most unique deserted cities on the globe.

Thanks to Google’s Street View mapping, virtual visitors can now tour the corroded corridors, crumbling stairs and uncertain roofs from a much safer distance, a 360° panorama for urban explorers.

The track of the Google Trekker

There are other YouTube clips of other Google Map locations - The Grand Canyon, Venice, the Galapagos Islands..., but I may wait till they improve on the 40lb backpack.

Gobsmacked

It is not enough that Facebook, iTunes, and the rest keep changing layouts, hiding features, etc - telling us that we want it that we just don't know we do, now Google have decided to retire Google Reader its RSS reader!

Copied from the New York Times

Having had to change from Bloglines to Google Reader, I'm not impressed with the decision from the people who wish to be the sum of all printed knowledge. The 'RichSiteSummary Feed' harks back to my early blogging days with '23Things', monitoring the sites I follow for new stories.

The picnic is over

Time to pack up the basket and picnic rug - I just learnt that Picnik the photo editing site is closing, being absorbed/taken over by the giant Google. As they are stating 'the ants have invaded!'
So no more 'cueing birdsongs...picking blackberries...fluffing clouds...blooming blossoms'.
Picnik allowed you to upload photographs and add artistic effects, touch-ups, frames etc for scrapbooks, collages etc. It linked with sites like Flickr, Picasa & Photobucket.
Picnik started back in 2005, and though they joined the Google juggernaut in March 2010, they remained a separate site & presence. And now from April they will disappear into Google+

#69 Feed my Inbox

This is another form of RSS - Really Simple Syndication, instead of using a web-based RSS reader such as Google Reader or Bloglines. With Feed My Inbox you input the feed address/URL and your email address, get an email to confirm, then just wait till your site has some activity and you get an email informing you.
Discovery Exercise: was to set one up, wait for a new feed and discuss the content, how it was arraigned and were there links to follow?
I chose Pixdaus' "Popular Today Pics" and got a list of 29 photos appearing in my Inbox. I really prefer to continue with Bloglines to track the sites I'm already following, as I get enough emails as it is, but I feel that, provided I go off and make a cup of coffee while it is downloading, I get to see the new photos in one list instead of groups of ten, so it suits this application.


This very Mists of Avalon photo was one of those downloaded, decidedly Arthurian.