Blog Reflections

I'm happy to report that I enjoyed blogging much more than I thought I would. At first I was a little intimidated because I wasn’t confident that my writing was good enough to put out there publicly, or that I had something interesting to say, especially on technology-related topics. Throughout the process I really felt like I found my voice and had some fun along the way. I stayed away from getting overly technical, since that isn't my strength. I tried to keep an open-mind and approach the blog as an explorer, although my hesitance and skepticism clearly came out at times.

My initial intent was to review new technology and tools to see how I can integrate them into my work and life. While I did stay somewhat true to that mission, I also brought in some relevant news items and a couple of funny, odd little discoveries to comment upon. I realized that it was too time-consuming, and quite challenging to review a new piece of technology or tool for every blog post (especially when I would've had to blog about 45 times in 7 weeks to get A on the project).

My goals for this blog were not overly ambitious. My hope was that the few people that read the blog would find it enjoyable and informative. A month ago I was nowhere to be found in the search results, now I am the second search result if you Google “worth my while” or “worth my while or not”. On Bing, I am the third search result for “worth my while” and the first search result for “worth my while or not”. Sweet!

I wish I could report detailed analytics for the life span of my blog; however, I made a mistake when setting up the analytics and didn't correct it until it couple of weeks ago. In about 12 days, I had a total of 113 visits, 245 page views, 41 unique visitors, 2.17 pages per visit, with an average of 3.09 minutes per visit.

Through looking at the Google Analytics map overlay feature to track the origin of my web traffic, I know that my sister in Washington only reviewed my blog twice (I am going to bust her for that), 15 visits came from California (thanks mom), and 90 from New York. I did have one visitor in Miami and one in Connecticut, which could be strangers since I don't think that I know people in these states, unless my friends are accessing my blog while on vacation.

Most of my blog traffic was from referring sites (all of my classmates linked to my blog from their blogs), which goes to show the power of “link love”, and also the power of Facebook. Posting links to my blog on my Facebook status updates definitely worked to drive traffic to my site.

If I had to do it all over again, I would've chosen a different name for my blog to make it more unique and search engine friendly, but I definitely would stick with the Blogger platform because I found it to be quite user-friendly and I like that it was integrated with my other Google accounts.

I struggled over whether or not I wanted to reveal my full identity on the blog because I didn't know whether I wanted it tied to me professionally. In retrospect, although I am proud of my work, I do feel that it is more personal musings, versus my professional opinion as a communicator, so I feel that I made the right decision to keep it anonymous (although clearly it's not anonymous to my friends and followers).

Overall, using this blog as a platform to further explore digital communications, both through first-hand experiences and following developments in the news and blogosphere, helped me to shape and express my opinions about this changing world of technology. If it weren't for this class, or for this project, I would not have challenged myself to explore this topic on my own, which I think is critical and relevant for communicators in all fields.

Although I have enjoyed blogging, I don't think I will keep this up, at least not in the short-term, because I have so many competing demands for my time (and I need some rest and relaxation, hello summer!). Now that I am more interested in keeping up with the world of digital communications, I am sure that as I stumble across new tools or articles I will immediately think “this would be a great blog post!” Maybe at that time, after a bit of a rest, I will feel compelled to pick it up again.

Hopefully my blog was worth someone’s while, but if not, at least I personally got a lot out of doing it. Enjoy the rest of the summer; I know that I will!

The Ultimate Mind Blower

I sit here writing (or rather dictating to my still quite annoying Dragon software) with a mixture of excitement and relief, and oddly, a bit of sadness. My digital communications course has come to an end, now I am just trying to eek out a few more blog posts to solidly get a B on the assignment. I walked out of class on Monday telling my professor that my last blog posts were going to blow his mind, then left thinking... "oh crap, I was only joking, what am I going to write about to wrap this thing up?"

So I decided to give you a list of a lot of cool things (online tools, websites, apps) that I learned from my classmates during our weekly knowledge share. I wanted to review many of these for blog posts, but didn't quite get to it. I can't vouch for whether these are worthwhile, because I've not tried them myself, but my classmates are pretty knowledgeable and trustworthy. There is a little something here for everyone, enjoy!

For the do-gooder:

If you still like to print paper, but feel guilty about it, GreenPrint allows you to print only the parts you want from any kind of document.

FirstGiving allows you to select a particular charity and fundraise on behalf of someone, without having to be linked to a particular event.

For the social media buff:

Tired of logging and different sites and see what your friends are up to? Meebo.com allows you to sign into all of your accounts at once and have the streams appear in one dashboard view.

For those Twitter lovers, Twiangulate compiles Twitter lists and lets the user triangulate the data which helps them to find and revise the list of people that they follow.

For the creative types:

Issuu is a digital platform for individuals, businesses, and publishers to create content with traditional print design features (i.e. turns pages like a magazine) but with greater interactivity.

Customink allows users to create their own designs on all sorts of merchandise: t-shirts, mugs, hats etc.

For the effective project manager:

LessProjects is a free application for managing collaborative projects.

Remember the Milk, is a free, Web-based to-do list manager (with a poor name) that allows for offline use so you don't always need to be connected to the Internet.

For the data nerds:

Many Eyes is a cool online data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive visualizations of their data (sounds kind of like Wordle, but more extensive).

Lynda.com is an extensive library of tutorials for software such as Flashbuilder, Excel, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Avid Media Composer, Encore, Illustrator, etc.

Minty Green

Today is the first day of better managing my money. I just set up my account on Mint.com. Thanks to my bro, Jeremy Pope, for introducing me to the site.

The service is free and easy to use--you simply link up all your bank and investment accounts, credit cards, student loans, etc. to begin using the service. I have to admit there were a couple of glitches in establishing my profile on the site, for instance, one of my accounts says that I entered the incorrect login and password, although I know this is not the case. This is a bit annoying and I still have not managed resolve the issue.

Theoretically, having access to all of my financial information in one place will allow me to keep tabs on what's going on with my finances much more easily. With Mint.com, you can set financial goals and budgets, and the program monitors your spending to keep you on track and offers you helpful tips and tools along the way to save you money.

Mint.com also has iPhone and Android applications, so if you are smart phone user, you can manage your money on the go.

In a short amount of time, Mint.com has already gotten to know me well. It is acting like the spouse that I do not have and keeps offering me unsolicited advice on how I can spend less money on food, entertainment, and shopping. Come on Mint, I already know that (I am a single girl in the city, what else am I going to spend my money on?), stop riding my back! Perhaps I should spend less time shopping online and more time on Mint.com (refer back to Distracted by Discounts)!

My boyfriend scared me a bit about giving all this information to a third party, but I am apparently very trusting, and am more concerned about someone sifting through my mail in the trash than I am about having my information hacked through this site. Millions of people use the Mint.com and it has received a lot of press and backing from reputable sources. Mint.com uses bank-level data security. Also, you are anonymous on the site; you don’t share your name, address, social security number or account numbers.

If you are looking for some help in the budgeting department, I think Mint.com is worthwhile, but of course it depends on how comfortable you are with their online security. I also think that the more you use the tool, the more you will get out of it. At this time, I haven't yet established my budget or goals, but I plan to ASAP. The first step was to establish an account, you've got to start somewhere, right?!

Social Petworking

For our weekly "knowledge share" in my digital communications class, my dear classmate and fellow blogger Helena told the class about two new social networks, Dogster and Catster. I'm still processing my feelings about this-- a mixture of amazement, joy, fright, and confusion. Might this be a sign that social networks have gone a little too far? Or maybe it's about time that we involve our faithful pets in the joys of social networking (a.k.a. petworking).

Navigating by Bike

My new, vintage three-speed Schwinn Collegiate has changed my city-dwelling life. I've lived in New York for seven years, and never thought that I wanted a bike because I was scared of city riding. I recently threw caution to the wind when I purchased my new wheels (and helmet).

Now I pretty much go everywhere on my bike, with a little help from my friend, Google bike maps, which I can rely upon to find the safest riding route.

This worked quite well for my trip from Clinton Hill to Williamsburg yesterday, but I realize I should have also noted the reverse directions since it's not quite as simple as reversing your route, especially with limited bike lanes, many one-way streets, and crappy road conditions that are pretty common throughout Brooklyn.

I wish that I could have Google bike directions sent to my phone via text. I didn't see this as an option, however if you have a smartphone you can e-mail the directions to yourself, which would've come in handy.

Happy cycling!

Fun With Word Clouds

Everyone loves word clouds, even if they don't know it. A couple of semesters ago my professor showed the class a cool tool, Wordle, to convert text into a visual, a.k.a. - a word cloud. All you have to do is copy text into the box, and poof, out comes this little picture that you can customize with various, fonts, colors, and shapes. To ilustrate, I copied my resume text to create the Worldle image in this post.

Wordle gives more prominence to words that are mentioned more frequently, so can help to illustrate trends. This little trick has proven useful for several projects. I created a Wordle using open-ended survey responses to visually display the results in a presentation. I also made a Valentine for my boyfriend and used our first few months of email corresponce, cut it into a heart shape, and pasted it onto red construction paper.

The possibilities are endless. Thumbs up for Wordle!

Just Another Dumb Phone

A couple of weeks ago I found my phone in the bottom of my kitchen trash in a pool of old pineapple and banana scraps. I solicited advice on Facebook on how to revive a phone after incurring water damage. The prevailing wisdom is to take it apart and let it sit in a bowl of uncooked rice to soak up the water. I let it soak in a bowl of dry quinoa (I didn't have any rice), and my phone did come back to life temporarily, with all this quinoa stuck in the nooks and crannies (I would recommend a larger grain, although quinoa is super delicious and healthy), but it eventually died about a week later.

I'm not the type of person who gets excited about buying a new phone. I wasn't ready to make the leap to a smart phone. I don't want the additional expense of having to add a data package onto my monthly bill. Also, I am accustomed to using my phone the old-fashioned way, to call people and text. I don't "need" all the bells and whistles, although I am sure if I had them I would probably like it.

My new phone is working just fine for me. I ended up going with T-Mobile's Samsung Gravity 3 phone. It has more features than I will probably ever use, and it is an upgrade for me since I didn't even have a keyboard on my last phone.

If I were to buy a smartphone, I would want the iPhone--it seems more fun and has more utility than a Blackberry, despite all the hoopla around the iPhone 4, which I have been following pretty closely because I recently wrote a paper about "antenna gate" for class. This video pretty much summarizes the iPhone 4 debacle in a genius song. I pretty much agree with this guy on all points. Check it out!
Maybe in the future I will step it up to the iPhone, but for now I am locked in for another two years with my T-Mobile contract.

Digital Doobies

I just stumbled across a report on Wired.com, "Teens Using Digital Drugs to Get High" and was naturally curious as to what this could be referring to. I read the story and watched the video clips in disbelief. Apparently i-dosing, or digital drugs, involves listening to specific music (largely a droning noise) through headphones.

Wait, I listen to loud, weird music through headphones all the time, is that why I am so out of it lately (no, I think that is actually because of too much work and not enough sleep, unfortunately)?

According to the report, this music uses binaural technology to alter your brain waves and mental functioning, mimicing the feeling of being high on drugs.



Of course, teens are going to have interest in trying this. I'm even mildly tempted, but decided I'm much too old to get hooked on drugs, even of the digital persuasion.

To pose the question that I pretty much do at the end of every blog post, is it worth my while? It depends on how you're looking at it. Digital drugs are free and legal, so what do you have to lose, besides your sanity. I can't imagine that there could be too many adverse effects, certainly not worse than actually doing drugs, but who knows? The digital age is so crazy. I'm not really willing to find out, but if someone else is, let me know how it goes.

Apparently, you can find i-dosing music and videos on YouTube, but I'm not going to link you right to it. I'm not a drug dealer, I'm a blogger!

Doodle This

Every job has at least one undesirable aspect to it. We all have to do unenjoyable, mundane tasks at times. For me one of those tasks is scheduling group meetings. While I don't do this often, when I do it's a total nightmare. It would be fairly easy if everyone within the institution that I work used the same e-mail system, for instance Microsoft Outlook, which has an easy calendar and meeting requests function. But this is not the case.

Up until recently, I would e-mail the parties involved with potential dates and times, and wait for a response on their availability. Then I would have to manually tally up all the responses. Often the process took so long that by the time everyone got back to me, those dates and times initially proposed had passed, or did not work anymore. It's was a really inefficient process.

Recently a colleague from a peer institution sent me a Doodle request when scheduling our next conference call. As their website accurately states, "Doodle takes the pain out of finding the right date and time for a group of people to meet and makes scheduling virtually effortless."

The basic service is free and requires neither registration nor software installation. It's kind of like the Surveymonkey of scheduling tools. All you have to do is set up a brief poll with potential dates and times. You e-mail the Doodle link to the recipient and they simply click the radio button indicating their availability. Doodle tallies the results for you and displays it in a very easy, clear manner.

If painful scheduling is part of your job, this tool is definitely worth your while. Check it out!

Love Letter to a Printer Icon

Dear Printer Icon,

I miss you. I used to be able to find an article online and click on you to easily print the page. I realize printing is not the "greenest" option, however sometimes I don't have time in the middle of my day to read an article in its entirety. I have an hour long commute on the subway, which is a perfect time to read what I cannot get to during the day.

Nowadays, when I find an article that I want to read online, generally my options are to share it on numerous social bookmarking and social networking sites. I don't want to share it, I just want to read it. Since you abandoned me, I have resorted to copying the text into a word document, blank e-mail, or text file. What a pain!

Did you disappear because you thought e-readers and smart phones have taken over? Think again my friend. Some of us old-fashioned types still prefer to read something on good ole paper. I get so excited when I see you, but it's few and far between. Come back to me, I appreciate you and still need you.

Love, Erin

Distracted By Discounts

Recently I've been enthralled by a slew of invitation-only, private sale, online shopping retailers like Gilt Groupe, ideeli, and Rue La La. I'm sure there are many more sites like these that exist, but I don't even want to know about them because I don't want the temptation.

These sites create demand for their products because of the exclusivity of the sales, the deep discounts, and the lure of the limited-time offering. For instance, on the wildly-successful Gilt Groupe, sales only last 36 hours. This time component increases the pressure to buy. If you snooze you lose (or maybe you save money).

Each day I receive an e-mail from these retailers announcing the special sales of the day. Hordes of women watch as the timer ticks down on the website to start shopping for their favorite designer brands when the sale goes live at noon. Items often sell out quickly so I won't be relying upon Dragon Speak to complete my purchases. ideeli even sells membership to "front row" seats to these sales, allowing you to shop an hour before the commoners.

There's definitely a viral component to the shopping sites. Participants are encouraged through various referral bonuses to drag their friends into the ring.

Although these sites initially focused on fashion, many are now selling a more broad, holistic, discounted luxury lifestyle (if there ever was a more oxymoronic concept). Now you can get 1000 count Egyptian cotton sheets or buy a complete vacation that comes with the sheets included on the Tempur-pedic mattress in your room.

Recently Gilt Groupe launched Jetsetter, their version of a limited-time travel discount site(fortunately you get 5 days instead of 5 minutes to decide your travel plans). I'm considering using Jetsetter for an upcoming vacation to Canada, the allure of a glamorous 4 star hotel at 2 star prices is too much to resist. The only caveat being, unlike other hotel booking sites that allow for cancellations there's no backing out once you click to commit to your new luxury accomodations.

I even bought a six month membership to a high-end gym on one of these websites for much less than I would have paid walking in off the street. I also skipped out on enrollment fees and unbreakable gym contracts. Not having to deal with the typical cheesy gym membership salespeople was an added bonus.

I like learning about new designers and brands through these sites, as well as shopping designers and brands that I normally can't afford. I think the sites are worth while for people who have money to burn (which does not describe me), because it's fun to browse and shop for the designer of the day. For those that don't have unlimited discretionary funds you might find yourself spending money on things you really don't need. If you're looking for something specific that they are offering, you could be in luck.

P.S. If anyone wants a subscription to one of these sites let me know. I'd be happy to get my referal bonus , just stay away from the size 7 pumps!

The Evil Dictator

It is not natural or healthy to be sitting at a desk in front of a computer day in and day out. Working full time and going to school has taken a toll on my body, and has caused a repetitive stress injury in my arms. To remedy this situation I have made some lifestyle changes, one of those being using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 speech recognition software. This is my first blog post through voice dictation, and I can tell you there is a steep learning curve.

To illustrate the challenges of using the software I thought it would be funny to leave all the errors on the blog post, but I didn't want to fail my course for poor writing skills. If the software is working properly, I should be able to do everything with voice commands that I normally do with a mouse. Unfortunately, I have not yet mastered these commands and am struggling with a hybrid method of typing whenever the software fails to recognize my commands, but of course it somehow understands all of the expletives I've spewed at it trying to get it to complete simple tasks like highlighting a word. I've read that smoother roads lie ahead, the more you work with it the better it gets to know you and your speech patterns but I might need an anger management course by then.

I've been feeling sorry for myself having to use this software, but feel even more sorry for my colleague who has to sit next to me and listen to my dictation at work on Monday (ha!) Wish me luck...

Worth my while-time, money, and energy? I sincerely hope so!

Neighborhoodly Love

This week's New York Magazine article, the New Collectivism, highlights the increasingly communal nature of New York City. Social networks are being taken off-line, so that like-minded people can meet in real life to swap and share information and resources, or to simply spend time together participating in common activities or interests. From cabs, child care co-ops, and community gardens, there is no limit to what can be shared and enjoyed in this new communally-focused society.

I'm sure this idea is not specific to New York, however it feels a little progressive for smaller towns, where your neighbors might not be on the other side of an inch of peeling drywall. New Yorkers often are dying for excuses to get out of their cramped apartments. The idea of getting together with fellow pickle lovers might not appeal as much to people have to drive 30 miles to Walmart to pick up a gallon of gherkins. Many of these shared networks start online, often through popular websites such as meet up.com that help to facilitate these type of connections.

Although I don't currently engage in this collective New York, it's comforting to know that these types of groups are emerging and are available to me if the desire or need arises--could definitely be worth my while. It seems like a great way to take social networking a step forward to make more meaningful connections. New York is a stressful place to live, with a little help from your community, it could make life a little easier, and enjoyable.

Does anyone have any personal experiences participating in these types of networking groups? I'd love to hear them. If you're single, this could be an alternative to a dating site and a great way to meet people in a somewhat organic way. Just an idea:) Enjoy!

The Tattooed Bookkeeper

Recently I turned to one of my oldest (not in years, look at her picture—she is a young hottie, but we have been friends for over 20 years) and dearest friends, Angel Quintana, for creative inspiration. Angel is a jack of all trades—blogger enthusiast, retired fashion designer, tastemaker in fashion and home design, and as the blog title references—a tattooed bookkeeper (a nickname given to her by her clients, as well as the title for a potential book/tv pilot/blog that she has been penning). This girl is not afraid to take risks. Her entrepreneurial spirit has led her down many paths, but for the last several years she is putting her creative energies into building her personal brand online, and hopefully making a few bucks while she is at it.

I would have preferred to have a face-to-face with Angel, but she lives on the West Coast. So, we had to schedule a phone call to chat about her recent endeavors, as well as our love lives and good bands, which we will keep offline (sorry, too juicy for this blog!).

Angel’s blog, Life According to Angel, essentially captures everything and anything that she is into. To extend the reach of the blog, she is also creating a YouTube channel, where she will feature reviews of her favorite books, films and music, product reviews, how-to's on cosmetics and fashion, and whatever else that is on her mind. First and foremost, her goal is to connect with an audience of like-minded people, or in her own words, "I want to be part of a community that gives a shit about the shit that I like."

Ideally, she wants to monetize her blog and drive traffic to her two online businesses, Bobo Bandits, a doggie accessory store inspired by her beloved schnauzer, and French Seams, An Ode to Vintage Living, her personal collection of vintage and vintage-inspired handmade goods. Both are works in progress, but will be available on Etsy.

Angel found inspiration for her blog through social networking sites such as Flickr, where she discovered a whole community of girls posting photos and blogging about their outfits. She then joined onto dedicated "what are you wearing" sites, such as Chictopia, which she plans to link up to her blog to consolidate her online presence, as well as her profile on Give it To Me Raw, which reflects her love of raw food and healthy living.

As a loyal follower of many lifestyle and fashion blogs, Angel sees how these bloggers are successful at building communities and earning money through advertising. Angel is a little late in the game, but she is catching up! She doesn't bother with Facebook much anymore because it's not a source of inspiration for her and it feels like a waste of time. She would rather put her thoughts out there in a different medium.

Whether engaging in online communities, or creating her own, Angel feels the most important thing to remember is to be yourself. People like you for you – be authentic, open, and put it out there. Someone will listen.

I'm listening, Angel! Good luck with your ventures.

Modern Nostalgia

As to be expected, the launch of the iPad created a whole new market for related accessories and applications. While browsing Mashable the other day, the article “USB Typewriter Will Make Your iPad Feel Ancient” caught my eye.

This new USB manual typewriter device for the iPad is not fast, but it has a certain esthetic, making it feel old and familiar, yet novel. iPads are intriguing to me—so cool, sleek, and modern—they are novel in their own right.



I find it a bit humorous and ironic that someone would want to pay $400-500 to make their cool, modern gadget mimic a slow, clunky typewriter of the past. Maybe it’s just nostalgia for simpler times that may make this appealing. What’s next, a rotary phone app for your iPhone?

Just like fashion, trends come and go. My mom never thought she would see me wearing bell bottoms and then a weird high school phase struck and I was asking her for her old 70’s garb. It will be interesting to see how this trend towards melding old and new technologies catches on and evolves.