E-Business - no limits...

Hey! Let's go shopping...
     Well, do you know what you want? Yes, ok - great...

From Google Images

               Oh, you want to know if it's in stock first?
                                  - no problem                
                            Let's check some web sites.

Who would have thought that we'd have this capability even 20 years ago?

Now - no web site - very often - no sale...

The fact is the Web is transforming business in ways we still trying to grasp. And leading the way. Today, if your company doesn't have a web-presence, you lose credibility.

And with B2B - business to  business, C2C (consumer to consumer - think eBay), C2B and B2C, so much information is online, in real time. With virtual shopping carts, instant inventorying, shipment tracking, businesses need to be Internet connected in order to be competitive.

And this virtual market place has literally provided stores without walls. Someone with a product in outer Mongolia can sell to someone in South America. This is redefining markets - stepping outside constrictions of time, space and geographic location.

Note - eBay - probably one of the biggest e-businesses with no inventory, no shipping, no warehouses, no orders to fill - HUGELY profitable - Who could ask for more?

Little did banks know in the 1960's that the simple ability to transfer funds electronically (EFT) would be a foundational pillar of our current online marketing structure. Paychecks, bill paying, and withdrawing money from an ATM all use EFT technology.

So get social, pull up a cloud, or do cyber business - it's all there - just a click away.

For your clicking pleasure -

Facebook                   Google Docs                Blogger

Any Store!                  Any Bank!                Any Hobby!

                              ANY    WHERE  ! ! !

Connects, Networks & Stuff

Well I think we've all heard various terms and acronyms such as LAN, ISP, TCP and IP ....
    The bottom line is that they are all involved in computer connections.

Local Area Networks (LANs), as well as MANs (metropolitan area networks), and WANs (wide area networks) all come together to bring us into a global community

Within an organization, networks can be layout in a variety, and often mixture of ways. A bus topology is one main cable from which each computer branches off from. Ring and star configurations are rather self explanatory.

The actual physical connection has transformed over the years as well. What used to be available only through twisted-pair cable is now transmitted mostly through fiber-optic cable, infrared and radio frequencies. And even satellite use is employees.

Who would have thought years ago, that with the click of a button, you would be able to not only hear but SEE whom you're talking with as well? Hello FaceTime!! Hello technology!!

I found that our computers all have the ability to trace the internet "path" or "hops" from our computer to our destination computer. This can give us a tiny view into how our information gets to us. From networks through networks to networks...

And I think we've all heard the term domain names. And thank God for them! I can;t imagine memorizing or even writing the digital address of each website I visit - can you?

Much gratitude is felt for LBS (location-based services) - they are the trip savers for many a direction challenged person via GPSs (Global Positioning Systems) Yeah for GPS!!!

Portals, P2Ps, and a Plethora of other stuff

Remember the days when you'd ask your mom how to spell something? (Like "plethora")

      And the response was ….

                   “Look it up in the dictionary” ? ! ? ! ?                          

Of course our response - “How can I do that if I don't know how to spell it?!?”

But, that is no longer an issue with today's technology.

Today – spell check and just about ANY other information is at our –

and our children's – finger tips.

Portals are our gateway to this information.

Horizontal ones provide our “instant” (and instantly changeable) weather, how the Sabres are doing, access to your e-mail, and the latest YouTube sensation...

Google, Yahoo!, and other web browsers are examples of broad, horizontal portals.

Vertical portals are more specific either by industry (just about any store...) or by area of interest– such as ones devoted to things from antiques to health to UFOs.

http://www.verticalportals.com/

One area of particular interest is the online training and professional development which is exploding. Many universities are offering, not only courses and certificate programs but full bachelor and masters level online degrees.

Online access has reduced the cost and stress of completing ongoing continuing education for many professions. And K – 12 resources are flourishing.

And, as we've been exploring, the evolution of technology and its partner, the Internet, has given birth to many other possibilities....

Gaming is actually becoming a hot industry in education. What better way to learn than by involving the whole person – and having FUN to boot!

P2P (Peer 2 Peer) file sharing is expediting the merging of businesses and worldwide communities. Google Docs and Cloud computing are facilitators of such sharing. 

Here are just a few of the plethora of delicacies available for the clicking:

TED Ed: Lessons Worth Sharing                            Rocketship Education

Full Sail University                        Games in Education                     Peer 2 Peer Tutors

Wikis in Education                        Game Show Presenter                        YouTube            

Prezi Praise & Pains...

Alas - I am again having difficulties embedding videos in my blog.

So the best I can do is to offer a link to my Prezi Presentation:
PLNs Where Creativity Collides with Collaboration

It was a lot of fun to do and I'm actually trying to think up reasons for creating more Prezis!

Feel free to take a look too - www.prezi.com

 

Here's just one of the free templates that www.prezzip.com offers to add in creating Prezi presentations.

This one was free - as are many more. Some cost $1.99 or $2.99...

But they're ALL fun! :)

Now if I can only figure out how to imbed mine! Someone I shared it with said the overall view looked like a sandollar!

              Loved that!

PLN Evolution - Stream of Conscientiousness

From Google Images

 From Google Images

Personal   -   Learning   -  Network

Hmmmm - Personal? Network?      Juxtaposed?

Conversation - Sharing becomes community....  

Everyone grows - LOTS of information!!!

From Google Images     

                            Ideas spark MORE ideas......

                                                   New becomes change -

So where does one end and another begin? When growing ideas - does it matter? What is the real goal?

When it comes to learning, technology and growth, don't we ALL want something better, more fruitful, more effective? AND HOW DO WE GET THERE?

Just some random, wandering ponderings....

Prezi LOVE!

Ah - trying a new application - it's called Prezi....

From Wikipedia via Google Images

Click and add and turn and size - LOTS of fun.


Now, kinda wish I could use some of those on the blog -
      some of the tools may may your head spin though

So off to do more with zooming, shrinking, expanding, panning
       "painting" -  just all around playing!

Oh what fun kids would have if they used this for their book reports!

Well off to the races....

SoundCloud - New Waves in the Cyber Sea

From Google Images

Well - I've been searching, listening and playing around with SoundCloud. I found a clip of an old favorite. Here it is:
Big Dee Irwin Swinging On A Star by Camille Styles Events

And to try to record something on my own, my daughter volunteered to play a bit on the piano. So here that is:
MB Intro
And here's the sweet sound of one of our kittens:
Soundcloud.com Indianna Meows

I guess you can use it as an audio instead of a YouTube clip. You could put a clip of soothing music on a blog or website to inspire or soothe your viewers.

I can definitely see how musicians can become self published. The new access to publishing sounds puts the marketing into the hands of the artist. (Just found SoundRain for that exact purpose...) As in the media publishing world, this will be revolutionizing the industry.

As a visual person, I can't seem to grasp why you would want to embed just a sound if you are trying to teach something - wouldn't a video be more useful?

Here are the two fellows that started SoundCloud -

Alexander Ljung & Eric Wahlforss:

Although, after listening to this:
Alex-Eric SoundCloud

perhaps.... Soundcloud could be like an "audio tweet" - this could actually be a bit of a solution to those who wish to text on the go....

Want more info?   http://developers.soundcloud.com/docs

Internet Safety - Crossing the Cyber Highway

One issue that can not be taken lightly with all the information floating around cyber space is SAFETY.

It goes without saying that certain protections need to be in place for children. Content filtering and monitoring messaging for bullying. But what about us unsuspecting adults? We’re OK, right?

Wellll... not so fast. We may have the maturity to view more mature content but how about someone viewing OUR content? 

Names, social security numbers, bank account numbers and even locations can give hackers or stalkers plenty of fodder for their imaginations. And cell phones are FULL of our personal info.

And unfortunately, even large corporate data bases have been breeched, leading to potential identity theft.

But who would possibly want my identity? I don’t have any money. Don’t let that fool you. Even stolen social security numbers can be used to create credit for someone’s use - other than you!

Here are just a few of the "Golden Rules" suggested at Be Safe Online:

1. Keep personal information confidential. For example don't give out your name, age, or phone number.
2. Don't believe everything you read or see online.
3. Use the Internet as a family activity and if possible, keep the computer in a family room rather than in a child's bedroom.
4. Set your own golden rules and after discussing them, stick them at the side of the computer.
5. Enjoy surfing!

Here's a video from YouTube:

 

And those that are entering - or reentering - the dating scene here are some basic rules:


1.  DO be cautious sharing personal info, including your last name, off-site email address, and, of course, home address. 
2.  DON’T give details about where you work. 

3.  DO pick a public place for your first meeting.

And some additional web resources:
Get Net Wise                                             Match.com Safety Tips                    

Social Media - Info N-O-W

Being connected today means many things to many people. 

• To seniors, surfing the web and e-mail is a fun way to keep up with the times. 
• Students Facebook each other, posting pictures and comments on their day-to-day goings on. Texting and IMing via Facebook or Twitter is a more "real time" connection.
• Professionals share information within their respective fields via newsgroups and contacts are made via LinkedIn

But as technology evolves and "speeds up", so do the myriad of ways we can now communicate and access the web. And today - with mobile devices - you can connect anywhere!

From Google Images

These are the more "active" connectors of today:

• Texting
• Twitter (microblogging)
• IM (Instant Messaging)
• Facebook (Posting & Instant Messaging)
• Chat Rooms
• Social Bookmarking
• Content Sharing
• Social Opinion
• YouTube

These invite input. What do you think of the new 30" TV? Tell Epinion! What sort of perfect vacation or dream house do you like to visualize? Put it on Pinterest. Want to figure out the best time for a family reunion? Create and share a Google Doc Calendar.

Who would have ever envisioned real time online gaming - distance or virtual gaming? Or how about online dating? Or becoming famous thru YouTube?

So - Go Ahead! Jump online and connect. There's probably a new way to do it everyday!

Here's just a few:

Facebook                                            Chat with just about ANYONE!

Epinions - Real Reviews                    Pinterest

free online games                               Twitter

MORE Information - S-l-o-w-l-y Please...

Communicating information is at the core of the World Wide Web. And how is that done? Ah! Let me count the ways...

And, in a way, you can sort of split these different ways of cyber sharing into 2 subcategories: 

             Active and Passive

I'm going to focus on the latter, or what I am dubbing "Information Slowly Please". These are such things as:

• Blogs
• News Groups
• Mail Lists or E-letters
• Wikis
• Webinars
• Podcasts

These are more of a "sit back and read when I can or choose to" type of information gathering/viewing. Many of these are sent via e-mail usually on a regular basis. News Groups such as Yahoo Groups and Google Groups can be viewed via the Web for free. Some are just a place to comment on certain subjects. Many have moderators to keep the conversations on track and polite. Many hardcopy newspapers are offering online subscriptions.

Blogs can serve 2 purposes. One can read a blog or one can write a blog. Even blog readers can comment  on someone else's blog.

And Wiki's are a little more active in that you can actually participate in their creation and evolution. It's like writing a story and asking everyone to join in! But, like blogging, you can add pictures and videos etc. Here's an awesome blog I came across:

     Wikispaces Blog

And here's an educational one:

     Fugleflicks Wiki

And here's a "HowTo" Video from YouTube:

In many ways, Google Docs looks VERY much like Wikis. Both are interactive and allow for multiple editors/authors. I suppose time will tell...

E-mail - Communication in a Cyber World

Remember the days of your youth? Running out to the mail box every day to see if someone sent YOU mail? There was the thrill of anticipation and sometimes the excitement of actually receiving a piece of parcel post....

Today - we can check "mail" by the minute! And at least for the adults, very often there may be a wariness as opposed to anticipation as we sort through what may or may not be pertinent information. There may be much unwanted "junk" mail - ads and even "trojan viruses" waiting to sneak harmful code into your hard drive!

WOW! How times have changed! 

But from the first message of "lo" from UCLA to Stanford University Institute in 1969, to the height and breadth of the World Wide Web has greatly expanded. Even the speed of change has changed. It took another 8 years to connect a just third network to the UCLA and Stanford project with ARPANET. 

IMAP, POP3, SMTP and HTTP - ?!? 
                   Bottom line - It's ALL Protocol

Now - we not only can access electronic mail via a POP (Post Office Protocol) downloading mail directly to our computer, we also have the option of using HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) which allows access via the Internet from ANY computer. All these various foreign sounding abbreviations are just different ways of delivery - some use multiple paths in getting your e-mail "there and back again"...

From Pingdom Website:
http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/09/29/email-vs-
snail-mail-infographic/

And for some statistics comparing the electronic mail to the U.S. Postal Service. It is interesting to note that MOST e-mail - a whopping 81% is JUNK!


But e-mail out numbers Snail Mail 81 to 1. So, in reality, 2.7 trillion e-mails are "legit" compared to 93.8 billion is STILL 28.98 e-mails to 1 letter.


And some of the added benefits of e-mail:

• It's almost instantaneous
• You can create, send, receive & read when it's convenient to you
• you can send one message to multiple people without any extra work

And just in case there's the slightest chance you don't have an e-mail account here are a myriad to choose from:

• Zoho Mail
• GMX Mail
• Gmail
• Yahoo! Mail
• Windows Live Hotmail 

Google Docs - Innovation for... EVERYTHING!

Surveys, shared documents, coordinating schedules... hmmm food for thought. Better than that - food for Google Docs. Now becoming part of Google Drive, Google Docs' uses are only just beginning to "rev its engines"

Now instead of sending an e-mail, waiting for responses, retyping, then organizing all the feedback - ONE document do ALL that. Set up a questionnaire in Google Docs and everyone gets to respond within that one document.

Schools are using Google Docs to facilitate collaboration with students. Many students can work simultaneously on one document, each with their own color text.


Teachers can see who did what as well. Now more "hiding" within a group project letting others do the lion's share of the work.

It can also allow a student and teacher to nurture a document from conception to final revisions. With no worries about differing software, work can be done from any computer.

AND gone are the days of "disappearing homework". Online - its there!!!

Collaborating and sharing schedules is also a snap when ONE schedule is shared with everyone! These can be accessed on mobile devices as well. The video below has a plethora of information about how to use Google Calendars in a work environment.




For even MORE information about Google Drive's capabilities check out these links:

Google Docs & Drive Overview

What's New with Google Drive

http://support.google.com/docs/?hl=en