Welcome to TechTips. The goal of this site is to inform and educate the students, staff, and faculty of The Ohio State University Libraries System about various emerging technologies that may impact the services that the Libraries provide.
Posts filed under 'Communications'
The folks at Google released 100,000 invites today to preview their new model of Web-based communication and collaboration, called Google Wave.
Since it has been in private beta, one has to rely upon others to explain what Wave is. It has been described “as much of a real-time chat room as a platform for editing documents collaboratively. It can also be used as a Wiki, to replace email and IM within an organization, or just to organize a pub crawl.”
A “wave” is equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Each Wave consists of a threaded forum combined with a wiki, IM, and email that are then combined into a single interface.
In Google Wave, one can create a Wave and the add others to it. Everyone can insert content or edit in the Wave. Since each Wave is updated in real time, others can see content as it is being created. The service can be used for quick messages and persistent content — it allows for both collaboration and communication.
A playback feature allows one to watch a Wave as it evolved, providing access to edits, who made them, and in what context. A locally hosted Wave server can interact with other Wave servers, but will also have the option of keeping their content private or limited to specific users.
Check out Wave in this 10-min abridged video of this hour presentation:
If you are one of the lucky ones to get an invite early on, please make sure to comment on your experience.
-Eric Schnell
September 30th, 2009
In the movie The Terminator, the viewer is taken frequently to the Terminator’s point-of view.
We know this is Terminator’s POV because there is image digitization and the people he is chasing are more luminous than objects in the foreground and background, which suggests infra-red. In the margins of the view we see columns of characters, including numbers and acronyms. The data changes so rapidly that it leaves no doubt that we are seeing the world as the Terminator sees it.
Science fiction? Well, parts of the Terminator’s POV are no longer scifi.
Augmented reality (AR) is the application of computer-generated imagery embedded into live-video streams as a way to expand information as it relates to the real-world. Through the use of AR technology, information about a user’s surrounding environment, and the objects within it, are stored and then retrieved as an information layer on top of a live real world view.
Since one really need to see it in action to understand it:
As far as using AR technology in libraries, Ken Fujiuchi proposes possible uses:
“When someone finds a book in the library catalog, they can have the option to snap a QR code or unique image of the book, which will first store the information about the book. Then the user can first be directed to a specific section of the library, and once they are in the right section they can use a mobile device to scan the book spines to start being guided towards the book they are looking for.”
Helene Blowers paints this scenario:
“When I shift my thinking about AR apps to the physical library space I see our whole collection opening up before our eyeballs. Imagine the ability to walk down an aisle and see the reviews and popularity of an entire shelf titles just by pointing the camera lens on your phone at the spines (or outfacing covers).”
Here are some other possible uses for AR, with the assumption every information source and service is networked:
- Scan a building to find out if study rooms are available
- Scan a building to identify hours of service, or which librarians are on duty. Touch screen to contact (text, IM, etc.)
- Scan a bank of public terminals to identify which ones are open
- 3-D images of special collection artifacts are viewable from a QR code or bib record.
- Physical exhibits can provide 3-D images of supplemental materials
Do you have any ideas?
Resources:
Educause: 7 things you should know about Augmented Reality
How Stuff Works: Augmented Reality
-Eric Schnell
September 21st, 2009
A growing number of university organizations are now managing an online presence on Twitter. In a complex organization like OSU’s library system, there could be accounts for news and events, accounts for any number of special collections, and accounts for projects and initiatives.
The larger the organization the greater the likelihood that several people will be responsible for managing the content stream. Having multiple accounts being managed by multiple individuals can get quite complicated.
One tool that can help with organizational management of multiple Twitter streams is called CoTweet. I have been using it for about a week and it has already saved me a great deal of time managing my three accounts. I just added a co-worker to one of the accounts so they can help manage the stream as they play with Twitter.
Features of CoTweet include:
- Web-based. CoTweet is browser-based. There’s nothing to install.
- Support for Multiple accounts. Twitter clients like TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop already offer support for multiple accounts. Such support is essential for larger organizations managing several profiles.
- Support for Multiple users. Allows multiple users to Tweet from an account. Also allows individual @replies to be redirected to a team member for followup, who get an email alert that they have an assignment.
- Delayed Publication of Updates. Specific updates can be set to be published at a predetermined time.
- Conversation threads. Tracks conversations between your team and any individual over time. Allows one to see which Tweets have been @replied to in order to prevent repeating or contradict an earlier @reply.
- Cotags. Short signatures (e.g. ^ES) that allow a content manager to identify themselves as being responsible for publishing a message.
- Keyword search. Can create persistent searches for specific keywords.
-Eric Schnell
August 11th, 2009
The other week I got a ‘tweet’ from a new colleague. The update seemed harmless enough. It enthusiastically pointed me a web site they thought was humorous. Suspecting nothing, I clicked on it. I thought it a bit odd when my browser opened to my Twitter account requesting that I log in, odd since I didn’t remember logging out. Then nothing appeared to happened.
Moments later, an update appeared from my account which was identical to the one my colleague sent. My stomach sank. I was Twitter scammed. (Yes, it does happens to IT folks from time-to-time!) I immediately logged in on a different machine and changed my password.
A number of updates were soon posted that it was a wide spread attack. Within a few hours Twitter had cleaned up all these infected message and reset those peoples’ passwords. The hacked accounts were used to tweet spam pushing diet supplements.
After getting over my embarrassment for falling for it (but hey, even a CNN anchor got his account hacked), I performed some forensics work on my colleague’s update. I used this experience to come up with a few tips on how to avoid getting caught up in a Twitter phishing scam:
- While shortened URLs help keep updates under the 140 character limit, they also make it easy for someone to embed a fraudulent address into an update since there are no clues on the authenticity. I like to use TweetDeck since it expands the shortened URLs in updates so they can be examined. To check where they lead, visit longurl.com or install the LongURLPlease plug-ins that lets you hover over a shortened link and see the full URL before you click.
- If you have gotten caught up in a phishing scam you should change your password immediately. If that password is used for other sites you may wish to change those as well.
- Delete the infected messages from your Twitter feed and from wherever else they were syndicated.
-Eric Schnell
June 11th, 2009
Do you have a particular hobby or interest that you have compiled a collection of Webs sites and blogs for? Do you keep extensive bookmark lists for these collections? Are you frustrated that you need to visit each of those sites? Do you finding yourself sifting through pages of results that come with a generic Google search? Are you looking for a way to search only those sites you compiled that focus on your interests?
You can do just that with the Google Custom Search Engine.
Custom Search allows one to harness Google’s indexing to create a search engine that is tuned only to search sites of interest.
For example, say you like to keep up with what is going on at the various Library Labs projects. This requires one to look at a list of experimental labs sites and then visit each one. With Custom Search, one can create a Library Labs Custom search in about five minutes. If one is interested in see what other labs are doing with the online catalog one can simply point to the URL of the search site or generate a search box that can then be embedded into web sites, blogs, whatever.
For developers, Google has released an API that lets other services connect to Custom Search. This allows one to create, update, and delete search engines without going through the Custom Search control panel. To learn more about the new API, read the programmer’s guide.
Keep track with the possibilities of Custom Search through their project team blog.
-Eric Schnell
April 27th, 2009
Most readers should have at least heard of Twitter by now. Twitter is one of many social networking micro-blogging tools which are available. Simply defined, micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allows individuals to publish brief text or multimedia updates.
If you are a Facebook user, you become a micro-blogger every time you update your status, comment on someone elses status, or add stuff to a wall.
Micro-blogging messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, digital audio or via the Web. The content of a micro-blog is different from a traditional blog in that it is typically more topical and shorter in length and size. With Twitter, it’s all the news that’s fit to print - in 140 characters or less. The micro-blog is the same as the traditional blog in that it can be utilize it for both individual or work-related activities.
Some people are quick to write-off micro-blogging (e.g. Twittering) as simply a time drain. They argue they don’t care that people are eating their corn flakes or they are taking their pet to the vet. If one is only getting such updates they are simply either following the wrong people or not taking full advantage of the tool.
For example, the other week a service called CoverItLive allowed me to tap into a conference Twitter feed so that I could keep up with the happenings at Computers in Libraries. A professor in media studies used Twitter to replace at least three classroom technologies. Many libraries, including the Library of Congress, are now using Twitter to communicate with their users. Joe Murphy did a nice presentation about how to use Twitter in libraries at the 2009 ACRL Conference
The problem right now is that the micro-blogging landscape is very similar to that which existed of the early days of email. Back then, proprietary dial-up entities like Prodigy and CompuServe were competitive and they didn’t do a good job connecting to one another. It was more likely than not that one could send only send messages to people inside the same service. Similarly, getting a micro-blog message published across multiple services is a challenge, although services like ping.fm help to syndicate messages across social networking sites.
There are too simply too many micro-blogging services than could possibly be listed in this post. Yammer is touted as an enterprise version of Twitter. Plurk integrates video and picture sharing. Pownce integrates file sharing and event invitations.
-Eric Schnell
April 6th, 2009
This TechTip comes from the mail bag. The reader’s question: What is a 3G phone?
3G refers to third generation mobile phones, and associated networks, which incorporate high-speed Internet access and multimedia. This particular phone/network architecture enables mobile service providers to offer a wide range of more advanced services through greater network throughput and capacity.
The first generation of cell phones were known as AMPS (Analog Mobile Phone Service). Analog networks were a proven technology for decades, but went dark in 2008 as a result of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling. The second generation mobile technology is digital cellular. Digital transmissions allow for more phone conversations in the same amount of radio spectrum.
Third generation mobile phones are what we see on the market today. 3G ’smartphones’ ( e.g. iPhone and the Google G1) and associated networks provide Internet access, text messaging, photo sharing, video, voice and data services. 3G networks have potential transfer speeds of up to 3 megabits per second (~ 15 secs to download a 3-min MP3) while the fastest 2G networks achieve transfer speeds up to 144 kilobits per second (~ 8 mins to download a 3-min MP3).
(Warning: tech talk acronyms ahead) The major 3G technologies are EV-DO for CDMA networks, such as used by Verizon and Sprint, and HSDPA for GSM networks for carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile.
Library users are increasingly using their 3G phones to access library content and services. This is an opportunity for libraries since they can begin extend multimedia content and interactive services to our mobile users including tutorials, virtual tours, and instructional materials. The technology will also allow users to create new content, such as students studying abroad to capture examples of language, images of archeological sites or movies of cultural events.
What’s that? Yes, you guessed it. 4G mobile networks are already in the pipeline and will have even faster speeds than 3G networks; up to 1 gigabit per second. Mobile WiMAX will be a type of 4G network. Large scale deployment of 4G is about two years away.
Additional Resources:
How Stuff Works
-Eric Schnell
March 5th, 2009
