Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine Vol 01 Issue 11
------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine -------
Vol 1, Issue 11
Probably one of the most difficult lessons we all have to learn
was one that we probably should have picked up before
kindergarten. You remember, "Billy, share your toys with your
sister", "Be nice to your brother and let him play with you", and
let's not forget "If you keep making that face it will stick that
way!" OK, ignoring the last one, the first two are all about
sharing and that's what we're talking about in this issue's
article, "Learning to Share".
----------------------------------------------------------------
In This Issue...
----------------------------------------------------------------
1. Article: Learning to Share
2. Blog Posts
3. Shameless Self-Promotion
4. The Fine Print
----------------------------------------------------------------
1. Article: Learning to Share
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Web, these days, is all about sharing -- ideas,
conversations, pictures, video, you name it. If it *can* be
shared, it probably is, somewhere on the Web. One area in which
I have become interested lately is that of sharing effort on
projects -- collaboration.
I mentioned a few months ago about my ongoing testing for my next
belt at Keith Hafner's Karate. My partner, Peter, and I have a
new task each month to complete and usually demonstrate in front
of the school. This next month is a little different. Instead
of a physical requirement, this time we are to create a
documentary about Bruce Tegner, one of the pioneers of bringing
the martial arts to the western world.
Now, my partner and I have busy and often incompatible schedules.
If we were to try to get together in order to do the work
required, we would be lucky to complete our five-minute bit of
filmmaking before the end of the *year* let alone by the end of
next month. I knew that we would have to use some sharing tools
to make ourselves a bit more efficient.
Our first task, of course, is to do some research. Prior to
receiving the assignment neither of us had even *heard* of
Mr. Tegner. Of course, the Internet is a wonderful place to seek
out information. The trick would be to share what we had
learned.
Google Notebook to the rescue!
Notebook (http://www.google.com/notebook/) has a great sharing
facility which allows you to specify who has access to a
"notebook" of information. It does require that you have a
Google account, but those are pretty easy to come by, so not
really a barrier to entry. This wonderful little tool extends
the capabilities of your browser (both Firefox and Internet
Explorer) and allows you to save chunks of web-based text, typed
in notes, even pictures with just a click of the mouse.
Great, so now we have a pile of data, how do we make it meaningful?
Well, if Peter and I worked in the same office, we could put a
Word document up on a centralized server and track the changes.
Since we aren't, we could always email the document back and
forth, though that seems a bit cumbersome. Could Google have an
answer to this one, too? Why, yes, I think they do.
Enter Google Docs and Spreadsheets.
Docs and Spreadsheets (http://docs.google.com) has most of the
basic functionality that you would need to share written and/or
numerical information. In fact, it has the capability to upload
Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. It also has the ability
to share these documents with other collaborators. In fact, in
one of my recent projects working with Sagient, a local Web
development company, they user Docs and Spreadsheets to share
information about the system that we were building. Very
convenient.
Now, sharing the development of the video part of the documentary
project might be a little more challenging. I am open to any
suggestions, but for right now, I figure we can use YouTube
(http://youtube.com/) to upload and share the incremental
progress on our masterpiece. Uploads to YouTube can be
designated as private (so everyone in the world won't be able to
see our feeble attempts before we're ready). YouTube also has a
comentary process which would probably suffice for tracking our
ideas on how to improve the finished product.
OK, you may have noticed that all of the tools that I mentioned
were Google controlled. What about those who fear that Google is
becoming the new evil empire and would like some alternative?
Well, I don't have any experience with any of these, but looking
around a bit I found the following. For sharing research notes,
you might try Notefish (http://notefish.com) or Zoho
(http://notebook.zoho.com/). For document sharing, Zoho also has
those features (in fact, it's all tied into the same interface).
For video sharing/editing you might try Vimeo (http://vimeo.com),
though there are apparently many, many, many sites which can help
out with this one way or another.
So, the next time you have a project to do, especially one where
you and your collaborators are separated either spatially or
temporally, you might want to consider using one or more of these
tools to keep things moving along. Drop me a line and let me
know if you are already using any of these facilities. I'd love
to hear about your experience.
Copyright 2007, Greg Peters
----------------------------------------------------------------
2. Blog Posts
----------------------------------------------------------------
Links to posts on the "Clearing Up the Confusion" Blog from the last year:
Monday, February 12, 2007 -- Up and Running Again
http://clearing-confusion.blogspot.com/2007/02/up-and-running-again.html
Thursday, April 26, 2007 -- The Weakest Link?
http://clearing-confusion.blogspot.com/2007/04/weakest-link.html
----------------------------------------------------------------
3. Shameless Self-Promotion
----------------------------------------------------------------
The "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-Zine is a production of Greg Peters,
owner, chief cook, and bottlewasher of Cyber Data Solutions. CDS has
been helping website designers develop better web presence for their
clients for more than a decade. Visit us on the Web at
www.cyberdatasolns.com to see how we can help your webmaster.
----------------------------------------------------------------
4. The Fine Print
----------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe:
You can subscribe to the "Clearing Up The Confusion" E-zine at:
http://www.cyberdatasolns.com/ezine
Questions:
If you have any questions, concerns or comments regarding the Clearing
Up the Confusion E-zine, please email Greg Peters at:
gpeters@cyberdatasolns.com
This content may be forwarded in full, with copyright and contact
information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a
not for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in
writing from Greg Peters is required, with notification to the
original author.
We never send the "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-zine uninvited, and we
NEVER share, sell or rent our mailing list to anyone. Your privacy is
safe with us.
