newquisk's blog

My notes from the 4/17/07 brown bag "A Second Life Field Trip" by Ken Newquist

Later this month I'm going to be giving a brown bag presentation on Web 2.0, updating everyone on the latest web sites and apps that have been released since my last talk on the topic. I'm looking for suggestions and recommendations about sites to discuss about this year.

Last time around, I talked about:

• Basecamp
• Blogger
• Del.icio.us
• Facebook
• Google Maps
• MySpace
• Protopage
• Technorati

I participated in a webcast on authentication and authorization to iTunes U at MacLearning.org today. Presenters included:

• Eric Bailey, Senior Engineering Mgr. iTunes U, Apple Inc.
• Ken Newquist, Web Application Specialist, Lafayette College
• Paul Edminster, Web Manager, Gonzaga University

I focused on how we tied our Novell eDirectory-based LDAP into iTunes U while Paul talked about how his school integrated iTunes U into Blackboard via a building block. Finally, Eric talked about basic structure and credentials within iTunes U as well as the nifty new web services.

A video of the webcast will be posted to the site in 2 weeks or so; I'll post a link when it's available.

I had to use Keynote (Apple's PowerPoint-like software for the Mac) for the first time today. Here are some random lessons learned while figuring out how to use it:

• To insert an image, you have to use the "Media" button, and then go through one of the iMedia apps (iPhoto, iMovie, etc.) It's annoying that you can't simply drag and drop from the desktop or browse the file structure for the image you want to use
• To cut and paste text from Word to Keynote while retaining Keynote's formatting, you need copy the text and then right-click in Keynote to select "Paste and Match Style".
• I haven't found an easy way to create a new page based on a new master slide. Simply creating a "new slide" causes it to be formatted as its predecessor, which is not always what I want.

I want a Google-themed bike helmet.

E.J. e-mailed me about this earlier, so I figured I'd post it to the blog so I didn't forget. By default, Mac OS X Dashboard Widgets reside within Dashboard, a hidden space you reveal by clicking a short cut link or key. You can, however, force Mac OS X to detach a widget from Dashboard:

1. Open Terminal
2. Type: defaults write com.apple.Dashboard devmodeYES
3. Quit Terminal then press F12 to expose Dashboard
4. To force a Widget to stay open, click and hold on it while pressing F12 again.

E.J. says you might have to login/out a couple of times to get it to work. On a related note, Yahoo's just released Yahoo Widgets 4, which is a much slicker, updated version of their own widget engine (which was known as Konfabulator before Yahoo bought it). Yahoo Widgets run under Mac OS X or Windows XP/Vista and do much of what the Dashboard and Vista Widgets engines do (and in some cases, Dashboard widgets have been ported to run under Yahoo's engine).

Bum Rush the Charts is a grassroots effort by bloggers and podcasters to demonstrate the power of independent media by sending one track by an independent artist to the top of the iTunes Music list for a single day (or longer, if possible).

The bum rush begins March 22 at midnight as everyone involved with the effort buys the track "Mine Again" by the band Black Lab. If you buy the track via an iTunes affiliate link on the Bum Rush web site, the organizers will get a cut of the funds, which they're then putting into a college scholarship.

I think this is a great experiment for a number of reasons. For one, podcasts have grown tremendously over the last two years and while traditional broadcasts have a far greater listenership, I think podcasts can have an influence that far outstrips the size of their audience. This would be the first tangible test of the power that I've seen.

Elgg is an open source social networking web app designed for use in higher education. I've played with it a little here and there, but haven't done a heck of a lot with it (you can see it in action at EduSpaces). Of course, there are a lot of these kinds of services out there (Facebook and MySpace obviously come to mind first) so what's different about Elgg? For one thing, colleges and universities can deploy this software to bring a social networking approach to their campus web apps. Instead of relying entirely on something like Blackboard or even Moodle, you can use Elgg to friend people, set up spontaneous groups, share files, etc., and do it in such a way as to not tie it to a specific commercial platform like MySpace.

Interested in web accessibility? Check out the notes and files for my recent Web Accessibility Workshop. It’s got a bunch of excellent accessibility related tips and links, including tools for evaluating potential problems with your site.

I upgraded my personal web site to Drupal 5.1 from Drupal 4.7 last week. The process went more smoothly than I expected; the majority of problems I experienced were related to my old 4.7-centric theme and a bit of a coding hack I did for my primary navigation on the site. I'm experiencing a few lingering CSS issues, namely none of the Ajax-collapsible menus will collapse and the editing blocks for forms aren't lining up properly.