Spreeder

For my next DDL, I have chosen an online application called Spreeder.

The concept behind it is simply. When you read to yourself, you can only read about 200 wpm, which is about what you can read out loud. This is because of the inner voice that reads the text in your mind while reading silently.

This is an incredibly inefficient way of reading, because our mind can process information much more faster than we can read aloud.

Here's a quick review by a fan of Spreeder:

Spreeder simply takes the text you paste into the online application, digitizes it, and replays it in a video at a much faster rate (normally around 300 wpm for beginners, and even 1000+ wpm for faster spreeders).

This application can cause you to understand data much faster than simply reading. If you don't believe me, time your self reading this post, then copy the text into the spreeder application and see how much better it can be.

UX and Psychology

Professor Zapalla did a blog post on exactly what I was going to talk about about!

I took an HCI course from BYU just last semester, and it was eye opening to me how integrated psychology and computers really are. As an IT major, we strive to make our products as user-friendly as possible. The entire class was the least technical of all my major classes. It was mainly about studying the user, how the brain works, and how to make a product easy to use, no matter what the background may be.

Don Norman's book was a required book, and I am happy to say that it is the first book mentioned in class that I have ALREADY read! In fact, I shared a link of Diigo that summarizes all the chapters pretty quickly and efficiently. Go check it out!

While I'm on Don, he gave a great talk in 2003 where he talks about the 3 aspects of design that really make us happy. He takes design to a deeper level than normal, and actually categorizes our emotions and reactions.

There is an 'interactive transcript' with the video here. You just click on a sentence and it takes you to that point in the talk. really cool.

Anyways, HCI (Human Computer Interaction) is all about drawing from the psychology of the human brain and implementing it in a computer product.

Why does almost EVERY program have a menu bar at the top? Why not the side? Why not icons? Why not icons on the bottom? It has a menu bar (with the basic options File, View, Options...etc.) because that is what our brain is used to. It makes the ability of us to learn a new program really easy, because we already know how the menu is like.

Copy...right

So we talked a couple week ago about Copyright laws, and pros, cons, etc.

I wanted to share this video that I've seen in multiple classes here at BYU. Since I'm an IT major, we talk alot about ethics and copyright because it seems to get easier and easier to violate those laws.

This video was produced by Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University. The funniest part of the video is the use of disney characters. Walt Disney is the biggest supporter of extending copyright laws, because they do not want their iconic character, Mickey Mouse, to fall into the public domain. In fact, the extension law is sometimes know as the 'Mickey Mouse Protection Act'

Databases! Essential for everything!

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I am an IT major. I write webpages and web applications, even my blog is called 'Notes from a Nerd'. So, it isn't much of a surprise when I am given an assignment like 'Enlightment Knowledge Media' and I choose to write about databases...with a little look back in history.

A Database is simply 'a comprehensive collection of related data organized for convenient access"

I would venture to say that the earliest modern database was the encyclopedia. Diderot was an encyclopedic who spearheaded the first modern encyclopedia similar to what we have today (or had 10 years ago).

Growing up, whenever we had to research something for class, we would turn to our trusty encyclopedia set. published in 1993, there were almost an entire volume for every letter of the alphabet! This set, even each book individually, was a database! A series of records, a collection, organized conveniently, and related to other records!

These encyclopedias as we all know, became utterly useless and extinct with the introduction of HTML (hyper text markup language) it allowed us to link text to something, or somewhere, else---creating a digital encyclopedia.

However, simply linking wasn't good enough. We need to be able to store data, and view it at will. This is where databases came into play. One example of a database, one of the first successful, was the SABRE system.

In a nutshell, SABRE was a system that was used by American Airlines, and eventually Delta, Pan Am, British Airways, and many more. This system was an online booking system, which allowed agents and customers purchase their tickets real time, handling over 83000 daily phone calls. What was most extraordinary about this system was that is was implemented in 1964. Before the Personal Computer, before Steve Jobs was even born, this project was in the works.

SABRE was definitely ahead of its time...
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Evernote---Remember EVERYTHING

I being my conquest for blog and class assignment domination with my next DDL : Evernote

Just yesterday at work, my boss announced he had gone completely paperless. Not paperless in the fact that he never uses papers, but rather that he never carries papers anymore. He is now using Evernote. I was a bit curious and spent some time looking into evernote...

With evernote, you upload your information to the site, and you can access is all later. My boss takes a picture of every post it note, paper, or whiteboard he uses. Evernote parses this data, making it searchable, and helps you organize all your notes and information into one area for easy access.

Their website is well designed, and has better tutorial products than the marketing one shown above. Check it out!

They have 2 types : Free and Premium

The Free version allows 40 MB per month of note allowance, and only allows you to upload images, audio, ink, and PDF with a max size of each note to 25MB. The Premium version costs $5 a month or $45 a year and allows a 500MB limit with a 50MB per note max. It also accepts any file type for upload.

If you love post it notes, and feel like you're getting overwhelmed (like me!) just give it a try, and see if evernote will work for you

Catching up with Micro blogging!

So, I found out in class Tuesday that I am part of the lower third of the class that is wayyyyyy behind.

It really wasn't surprising to me. The past weeks have been filled with late nights, taking care of an infant, job interviews, practically full time work hours, and a full class load. I knew I was behind, but I did have every intention of catching up!

I have been researching and jotting down ideas for blogs, but for the longest time, I thought that I needed a full, in depth, this is everything I know blog post. I have a revelation last week that that is NOT necessary.

I learned about Micro-blogging, which is basically expressing information but in a much shorter form. Bro Burton even praised a student in class for micro blogging. I though 'Hey! I have a bunch of those, but I didn't post them because they weren't done!'

Even though I am an IT major, and consider myself pretty technologically savvy, I still have a LOT to learn about internet and blogging etiquette.

I now have a goal to post once a day for the next week.

I know that this will be a very difficult goal! VERY! But I need to jump start my blogging experience. It's about time that I join everyone else in the class and update more than one a week....or one a month

George Price, Altruism, and Reincarnation

I'll start with the last word in my post---Reincarnation.

I am alive...back from the dead in fact. It has been a while since my last post---too long, I admit. This weekend I will be compiling all my blog drafts, random thoughts, and class notes in order to play catch up with my life and with this blog.

So, that out of the way, lets talk about Altruism.

Before we selected the book for our report, I had no idea what Altruism was. Chalk it up to being uncultured or not an honor student or just a bad English student, I had no idea what it was. After some research (okay, maybe 5 minutes on dictionary.com) I found that altruism meant "the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others"(link)

I furthered learned in my research and reading of The Price of Alturism by Oren Harmon, that George Price devised a mathematical formula describing evolution and natural selection.

We, as a group, wrote a review for the book and posted it on Amazon.com. My cohorts also decided on their own Digital Literacy techniques for showcasing this work of art.

I decided to jump on the bandwagon and finally experiment with Woordle. I must say that I was a little put off when everyone and their mom decided to use woordle at the same time at the beginning of the year. But, once I was able to experiment with it myself, I thought it was a pretty cool concept, despite my previous inclinations.

Here's what I came up with: