Happy Mothers Day
May 11th, 2008 by John Pederson
Sharing
May 8th, 2008 by John Pederson
“The most important word on the internet is not ‘Search’. The most important word on the internet is ‘Share’. Sharing is the driver. Sharing is the DNA. We use Social Objects to share ourselves with other people. We’re primates. we like to groom each other. It’s in our nature.”
(Link: gapingvoid: “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”: more thoughts on social objects)
Follow Break
May 3rd, 2008 by John Pederson
The kids at someecards have some great pieces.
Googley
Apr 24th, 2008 by John Pederson
Design principles. From Google.
“1. Focus on people—their lives, their work, their dreams.
2. Every millisecond counts.
3. Simplicity is powerful.
4. Engage beginners and attract experts.
5. Dare to innovate.
6. Design for the world.
7. Plan for today’s and tomorrow’s business.
8. Delight the eye without distracting the mind.
9. Be worthy of people’s trust.
10. Add a human touch.”
(Link: Official Google Blog: What makes a design “Googley”?)
Online Life vs. Real Life
Apr 18th, 2008 by John Pederson
“at current rates, within 2 weeks the population of my Twitter followers will exceed the population of Alpine, Texas. Dunno what that means. 12 minutes ago from web “
(Link: Twitter / gapingvoid)
Networks and People
Apr 17th, 2008 by John Pederson
“‘Networks don’t have people. People have networks.’ - Demian Entrekin”
(Link: Ross Mayfield’s Weblog: Networks don’t have people. People have networks.)
Amateur
Apr 17th, 2008 by John Pederson
Joi Ito (Creative Commons) talks a bit about “amateur”.
The Next 8 People on My Blogroll
Apr 16th, 2008 by John Pederson
“We are the Random Technology Un-Committee and we are more what we aren’t than what we are.
We aren’t a committee;
We aren’t a task force;
We aren’t an advisory group;
And, we certainly aren’t organized.We do not have a charge;
We do not have a mission;
We do not have a task list or a timeline;
We do not have a chair.But we also are.
We are tinkerers;
We are wonderers;
We are pathfinders;
We are dreamers.Our sole purpose for existing is to share our thoughts and tinkerings and brainstorming in the hopes of finding new solutions, inspiring more brainstorming and reducing the number of wheels being invented.
And, we do.
We have occasional un-meetings where we sit and share our thoughts and tinkerings. We have no agenda and we do not tolerate blind negativity.
We blog and tag and bookmark whatever we think is interesting and worth sharing.
We may do more, who knows.Finally, the we who is we is you too. Right now we have a small crew of authors for this blog, but we welcome your participation by either commenting on blog entries, joining our crew of blog authors or participating in our to-be-announced future un-meetings. If you would like to join the group of authors on this blog, send an email to: randtech@u.washington.edu.
Our current list of blog authors include:
Corey Murata
Maureen Nolan
Lauren Ray
John Vallier
Jennifer Ward
Jake White
Steph Wright
Anjanette Young”
(Link: Technically Random » About)
Accidental @ the Highlight of My Life
Apr 14th, 2008 by John Pederson
Lolz. Evidence that Twitter is totally taking over the @pederson household.
Nevermind the fact she messed up the C. Claire’s “e” is an “@”.
PBS videos for educators hit iTunes U
Apr 14th, 2008 by John Pederson
“The ongoing expansion of edu-world content in iTunes continues with Friday’s addition of PBS to iTunes U; teaching support videos and instructional content from KQED, WETA, WNET thirteen, WGBH and more. Video clips that illustrate science, geography or history (including segments from Ken Burns’ documentary The War) are accompanied by PDF lesson plans and educator’s guides — awful handy!”
(Link: PBS videos for educators hit iTunes U - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))
Must View Video
Apr 12th, 2008 by John Pederson
This YouTube video replaces about 5 others in my presentation library to explain what is going on with Web 2.0.
Hat tip to Scott McLeod for unearthing this nugget.
Resistance
Apr 11th, 2008 by John Pederson
“You don’t know if your idea is any good the moment it’s created. Neither does anyone else. The most you can hope for is a strong gut feeling that it is. And trusting your feelings is not as easy as the optimists say it is. There’s a reason why feelings scare us.
And asking close friends never works quite as well as you hope, either. It’s not that they deliberately want to be unhelpful. It’s just they don’t know your world one millionth as well as you know your world, no matter how hard they try, no matter how hard you try to explain.
Plus a big idea will change you. Your friends may love you, but they don’t want you to change. If you change, then their dynamic with you also changes. They like things the way they are, that’s how they love you- the way you are, not the way you may become.
Ergo, they have no incentive to see you change. And they will be resistant to anything that catalyzes it. That’s human nature. And you would do the same, if the shoe was on the other foot.
With business colleagues it’s even worse. They’re used to dealing with you in a certain way. They’re used to having a certain level of control over the relationship. And they want whatever makes them more prosperous. Sure, they might prefer it if you prosper as well, but that’s not their top priority.
If your idea is so good that it changes your dynamic enough to where you need them less, or God forbid, THE MARKET needs them less, then they’re going to resist your idea every chance they can.
Again, that’s human nature.
GOOD IDEAS ALTER THE POWER BALANCE IN RELATIONSHIPS, THAT IS WHY GOOD IDEAS ARE ALWAYS INITIALLY RESISTED.”
(Link: gapingvoid: “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”: how to be creative)
State of Mind
Apr 11th, 2008 by John Pederson
Perfect image for how I’m feeling right now.
4 Steps to Combat Cyberbullying
Apr 11th, 2008 by John Pederson
Seems pretty simple and effective.
“1. STOP communicating with the cyberbully. If it is someone you know or don’t know, bullies jab at their victims to get a rise out of you and make themselves feel better in the process. By not responding you eliminate some of the pleasure bullies get from harrassing you.
2. BLOCK the cyberbully. No matter what medium the bully is approaching you from, you can block and limit their access to you. On social networks you can de-friend the bully and limit access to your profile, email service providers will let you block individual addresses, IM services can block screen names, and cell phone companies can block individual cell phone numbers.
3. SAVE and PRINT the content in question. If it is via computer save and print the bully’s content, and if printing isn’t an option, consider photographing a text message. This is your proof that the cyberbullying took place.
4. TELL an adult. Because cyberbullying is often silent, individual, and isolated adults often don’t know it is happening to begin to help you. You have to ask for the help you need.”
The Old Ways are Dead
Apr 10th, 2008 by John Pederson
“The old ways are dead. And you need people around you who concur.
That means hanging out more with the creative people, the freaks, the real visionaries, than you’re already doing. Thinking more about what their needs are, and responding accordingly. It doesn’t matter what industry we’re talking about- architecture, advertising, petrochemicals- they’re around, they’re easy enough to find if you make the effort, if you’ve got something worthwhile to offer in return. Avoid the dullards; avoid the folk who play it safe. They can’t help you any more. Their stability model no longer offers that much stability. They are extinct, they are extinction.”
(Link: gapingvoid: “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”: how to be creative)
The Red Line
Apr 10th, 2008 by John Pederson
“The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.”
(Link: gapingvoid: “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”: how to be creative)
Why We’re All Blogging Less
Apr 10th, 2008 by John Pederson
“Blogging isn’t for everybody. Web 2.0 is for everybody. Keeping a half-decent blog going is very time-consuming work. So of course there was a market for more time-friendly Web 2.0 apps, like Facebook and Twitter. That doesn’t mean blogs will go away. It just means more opportunities for people to create and use new tools. The web stands still for nobody etc.”
(Link: gapingvoid: “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”: why we’re all blogging less)
10 Millionth Article Written on Wikipedia
Apr 10th, 2008 by John Pederson
“The ten millionth article has been written on Wikipedia - a Hungarian biography of of 16th century painter Nicholas Hilliard (English version here).”
Why I Use Twitter
Apr 10th, 2008 by John Pederson
“Twitter is about hope and love, although the casual observer might miss that completely.”
(Link: /Message: Featured Post From 9 April 2006: My Twitter Story: Why I Use Twitter)
Creating a Network Around the Network
Apr 4th, 2008 by John Pederson
If you’re creative, if you can think independantly, if you can articulate passion, if you can override the fear of being wrong, then your company needs you now more than it ever did. And now your company can no longer afford to pretend that isn’t the case.
From gapingvoid: “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”: how to be creative
I was sold on my new job when, in the interview, they wanted me to talk about my failures. And they told me about theirs.
This trend of various nodes on the network (Jones, Utech, Jakes, Laufenberg) moving to new and exciting pastures continues for me. On May 1, 2008 (omg, that’s less than a month!) I’ll be headed to Madison, WI and start work for an outfit called WiscNet. These are the folks that provide and manage big fat Internet pipes to many of the universities, colleges, libraries, and K12 schools throughout Wisconsin. Those of you that work with boxes and wires can relax, I won’t be touching that stuff. I get to keep my educational hat on and am tasked with something near and dear to all of us.
“Develop the network around the network.”
How cool is that? “Networked learning” is not only some crazy addiction hobby, there are actually people that will pay other people to make it happen. Really. “Hey John. We have big fat Internet pipes. Go give them a good educational reason to use them. Be creative.”
A few big highlights that come with the new gig…
1) Internet2. I know what this means in conceptual form. Now I get to experience it close up.
2) I’m technically some sort of academic breed within the University of Wisconsin Madison. This scratches that itch I’ve always had to experience a bit of educational technology at the higher education level.
3) I’m moving from that local/regional perspective to a state/national sphere. I get to disrupt on a much broader level.
I look forward to take you all along on this journey. Thanks for propping me up throughout the process. I owe a significant karma debt to all of you who have been my teachers all along.
