\TEK-ee-FEEL-ee\ – enjoying both sides of the brain.
I am a big fan (sucker?) for the end of the year summaries that abound at this time of year.
And, I love lists. So, here is a list of lists….
Presenting my faves for the end of 2009 and the end of the first decade of the 2000s (naughties? noughties? oughts? aughts? What did we call them?)
DJ Earworm – United States of Pop 2009
NPR All Songs Considered Best Music of 2009
I always find new music via NPR’s All Songs Considered
Lifehacker’s Most Popular Hive Five Topics of 2009
Crowdsourcing has grown in popularity, easy and usefulness. And why not? It usually works!
Entertainment Weekly’s Best of 2009 (highs and lows)
Since this is my guilty pleasure reading at the gym, I felt that I must put it in here
The Top 10 Everything of 2009 and the Best Movies, TV, Books and Theater of the Decade from Time Magazine
well, they said everything…
Top 10 Internet Moments of the Decade from ABC News
And, for good measure, I just had to use the “My Year in Status” application in Facebook to build a status collage for 2009.
I also had to go visit Wordle and do something there with my blog posts from 2009. And, here it is.
This infographic (you know I loves the infographics!) says it all!
Created by Online Education
This blog has a tagline about exploring “both sides” of the brain and I do try to explore and nurture both the techy and the feely of life. Of course, I am always interested when they intersect.
Part of the official parts of my job is to be technical support for the faculty and staff at my school. In all of my previous jobs, I have always been the unofficial technical support mostly because I was one of the first to use it and one of the first who understood it enough to explain it to others. Beyond my work life, I have also become the “go to” girl for tech support for many of my friends as well. You don’t get the nickname “Computer Girl” (as I was christened by one friend) without some geek cred, I would think.
It has been rare when I find myself on the other side of a technical support issue. By the time I actually break down and call a tech support line, I have exhausted all other possibilities. I have done the obvious (and sometimes the ridiculous) testing, rebooting, Google research, etc. It’s a pride thing, I suppose.
So, when my Twitter account suddenly was no longer “findable” via search or when I used hashtags (those phrases that begin with # that are often used to tag a tweet about an event like a conference), I was concerned. Since I am supposed to be coordinating the “twitterverse” for two upcoming conferences, I was getting more and more worried about my account being broken. I searched for suggestions and looked through the FAQ at the support site for Twitter and, of course, opened a support ticket with them. Nothing seemed to be working.
Then, I found a Twitter support person on Twitter. I started following him and then sent a direct plea his way. He became my “go to guy” and shortly after that, he send me a message back telling me all was well. And, it was!
I am grateful that he fixed the issue. Even more, I am grateful to be reminded of what it is like to feel out of control and unable to solve a technical problem and what it feels like to find someone who can, who does and does it well. I will use that as a reminder to keep doing what I do for my friends and co-workers and try to do it well, quickly and without complaint.
Thanks @lukester for that!
I love flowcharts! I always have loved them. I think that is why when I first saw a song chart, it just grabbed my attention like no other infographic had in a while!
I just found these flowcharts from Eating the Road blog. They just might help with those life decisions like what cereal to eat or what fast food to choose or what is the truth?
What other flowcharts are out there?
Thought it was time for a new look for T-F after three years. I miss the old montage but I like this zippy super cool sliding thing!
I am curious to see how it turns out as National Public Radio launches their year long exploration next year of the 50 greatest voices in recorded history. Their voting site is really slick as you pick your top five, give your reasons why and join in the fun.
Crowdsourcing..its the way of the future.
50 Great Voices: Help Us Choose : NPR
And, on the day that I did my voting, here is the way the cookie crumbled:
Today is BAD ’09! Blog Action Day. If you are on Twitter, the hashtag is #BAD09
This is the third year that T-F has participated and I am happy to do so, as always. This year’s topic is Climate Change and it is something that has been on my mind a good deal in the past few years. I have some close friends who have made very radical changes in their lifestyle over the past two years as they work to become as sustainable as possible in the expectation of the changes they expect in the world after Peak Oil. I admire them, yes. I emulate some of their choices, yes. Can I do everything they are doing like sell their house, farm most of their own food, make their own bath soaps, etc? Well, I probably could given enough time and training but will I? Probably not.
And climate change is a direct result of our lifestyle choices, it does seem so this is something that I do struggle with. Especially given my current employment. It is directly driven by computer technology and directly draws on natural resources for energy and, given my current location and energy source, directly impacting climate change. So, I try to find ways to help reduce my carbon footprint as much as possible in other aspects of my life since my career feeds into it. This is where the carbon calculators like the ones you find at Earth Lab, the Nature Conservancy Carbon Footprint Calculator (see my results below) and the United State Environmental Protection Agency Household Emissions Calculator
I feel like we do a pretty good job as a household of being as low impact as possible while keeping a fairly modern, technologicaly lifestyle. But, I know I could do more, especially with hot water and lighting.
As much as I learn from my more activist friends, I also learn from the social network I have created within Twitter and other sites where I engage. Participating in Earth Hour last March was inspiring as is writing this post today. I really did like watching the earth go dark for an hour in a wave around the globe. It was fascinating to be a part of it as well as just absorb it. If we can pour the energy that folks had just sharing what they were doing during that hour via photos, tweets and video.
cc licensed flickr photo shared by AJ Wms
The increased use of technology to promote action, while also using energy and producing carbon dioxide, does allow us to feel much more aware and connected with others who feel the same way and to empower us to feel that our actions are not being done in a vacuum. I feel like that is very important as the issue of climate change is certainly not going to be solved by one country or one organization but by all of us and one way we can feel involved is to take part in these global actions, which is made so much more easy by today’s technologies. Can anybody say conundrum?
Want more global community actions to connect and be involved? Try these or share something else in the comments:
International Day of Climate Action (October 24)
Join TckTckTck: Global Citizens for Climate Action alliance of faith groups, organizations, trade unions and individuals.
I have a ukulele now. And I take piano lessons. Add in the drum set in the basement and the guitar in the closet and there are a lot of musical opportunities in the house these days. Right now, the uke is the winner…it sits out by my desk and I pick it up about every day. Can’t say I practice any of the rest of the instruments that much.
Of course, I am only playing the one song I know right now (I’m Yours by Jason Mraz) but the more I play it, the easier it gets. Practice makes perfect.
All of this leads up to something that I have been thinking about for a while but never got down to writing about it until now. We went to hear Steve Martin play his banjo this weekend at the lovely Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Yes, the home of the Grand Ole Opry! It was my first show there and I hope it won’t be my last as it was a great performance space. Wonderful acoustics, fun pews (not TOO hard) and a top-notch show to boot. Steve Martin was a pro with the banjo and his band was phenomenal.
Add in the fact that his opening act was the multi-talented John McEuen of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and that he had guest vocals from Dan Tyminski and Rhonda Vincent as well as closed the show with Earle Scruggs playing Foggy Mountain Breakdown and you get the gist that it was a truly wonderful night of music.
But, what I have been thinking about was how easy they all made it look. McEuen went from guitar to banjo to fiddle without even taking a breath it seemed. If I put down the uke and sit at the piano, I have to fidget and think and get all set up to get going. It is amazing how at ease he seemed with all of the instruments and just being on stage. And, I know it comes from practice.
To take it from music to techy – I can sit down at a Mac and then move to a PC and then to an iPhone with the same ease. I have been told many times during training “you make it seem so easy”. And, that is my goal – to make it seem easy but to also really just make it easy. But, there does take some practice. Some time with the “instrument” whether it is an operating system or a software application or a new peripheral. You have to spend some time with it and learn how to work it, where things are and so on. Then, moving between all of these things gets to be much smoother. And, just like how a guitar player can probably pick up a uke and make some decent noises – the more tech you play with the easier it is to pick up something new just because of all of the practice you did before.
