Notable » Web weaving

Putting Screenr through the paces

Christine Sætre — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:21:53 +0000

A by-product of my little test – Click above to get a sneak peek at a bit of Innsida 2.

Yes, we have seen screen capturing before, but not like this. After initial testing I am exploring the potential and pitfalls of using a nifty new service and tool called “Screenr” for bug reporting and feedback at work. Help me find out if this is problematic.

Why is it cool?

Screenr allows one to share any happenings on your screen. Any user can (1) click, (2) frame, (3) record and (4) annotate their experience for you: pretty useful if that experience happens to be with your site, demo or system. A long time fan of Jing (TechSmith), Screenr makes this functionality available to your testers or users without forcing them to open an account, and no installation is necessary.

For the extremely curious (or the super special)

… my 3-minute screencast demonstrates bits of the User Profile currently being developed for Innsida 2.0. Upon completion of my recording Screenr provided me (1) a preview of my recording, (2) a link to share, (3) and sent a notice with my comments to the email I chose for my host account.

Will you help me test?

Make a test recording be clicking the button, and while you are at it say something amusing. Then feel free to hurl your comments about either one — Screenr or Innsida — to me at @csaetre.

So far I have…

one report of a Screenr fail,
another user with a few doubts
and 5 enthusiasts.

OSM tiles _under_ Flickr

Christine Sætre — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:41:51 +0000

I stumbled upon this example of OSM tiles under Flickr´s navigation and geotagged images, discussed ever so briefly in a blog by Mikel Maron. Here is wishing OSM was used for downtown Trondheim, and other areas where Google deigns not detail.

Photo by: Rev Dan Catt

To review:

So we already knew that Flickr supports OpenStreetMap. To review, one can tag Flickr images with, for example:

osm:way=43111578

and thus link the image with OpenStreetMap “way” 43111578 . While you add the tag as you would any other, the result is a machine tag entry and the appearance of linked ”additional info” — such as Kai 16 – Brattørakai is a feature in OpenStreetMap — in the right-hand column for the image in question.

Related reading
NTNU´s campus mapping project.

Nothing to do this weekend? How about … a bit of mapping!

Christine Sætre — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:59:07 +0000

Photo by: C.Saetre

Join the campus mapping effort and OpenStreetMap competition this month at NTNU. I can attest that mapping is a bit addicting, and there is fun to be had by joining the collective NTNU effort. Even if there weren´t prizes it would be fun—but there are indeed some prizes—good prizes.

Did I lose you?

OpenStreetMap is on its way in as NTNU´s official map app (cheering heard somewhere). A free editable, net-based, map of the world, OpenStreetMap (or OSM) is made up of data collected and plotted by anyone who wants to. For any who find this hard to digest, it could be described as the Wikipedia of mapping, if you will.

More about the prizes

The competition is open to both NTNU students and employees. Just by participating one will be eligible to win one of 3 gift checks for NOK 3000. Prizes will be awarded in each of the following groups:

Best contributor to NTNU campus regions.
One random contributor to NTNU campus regions ( lottery drawing)
One random contributor to Trondheim´s “midtby” regio (lottery drawing)

It´s never too late to get started, but keep in mind that the competition ends on the 15th of November. One GPS track will earn you 10 lottery entries, 1 change-set with sensible comments will earn you 1 lottery entry, (max 1 change-sets per 3 minute interval). Definitely read the official rules and registration, and if you are an exchange student in need of a translation, let me know. Happy mapping!

Further Reading for OpenStreetMap fans

Flickr Allows OpenStreetMap, FourSquare Geotags

Why my university should have WordPress MU

Christine Sætre — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:40:16 +0000

Well one of its faculties, IME, does have it. Today a tweet from a colleague announced a new installation of WordPress MU. Kudos to @kvisten. Great initiative, great product.

I wish I had the inclination to install it myself, but for some reason I have been manually maintaining at least three stand-alone WP-installations, optimistically waiting for NTNU-IT to offer WP-MU service to the plethera of academic units and student organizations it serves. The proffering would be effective, good service, and benefit the university in so many ways. WordPress MU (multi user) allows for a self hosted installation of the flexible, open source, user-friendly system, at a very low cost. Free.

That is pretty good company to be in. (A list of more good company.)

Harvard currently offers a WordPress MU account to any member of the Harvard community, (Good idea!) and has this to say about it:

WordPress MU is the best system we’ve found.
— Project info: Weblogs at Harvard Law School. (Users of WP MU since 2006)

So why don’t we have it at NTNU? Well it seems our sentral IT department will only install what it already knows or what it wants to. Translation: we will do nothing new unless we have to. Too harsh? Maybe so. But I know this because that is the gist of the responses I got when I wrote the proposal e-mail in January (parts of which are included below) .

Maybe I didn’t argue well enough or lobby the right people. (Who knows, its not a new story. And, I digress, but maybe Innsida 2.0 can change our organizational culture by flattening the structure a bit :)). But the point was/is, kudos to IME. Both for the installation, for their flexible and constant effort to do better, and not least, for hiring smart people. And it is not lost on me that, once again, ”just do it” was/is most probably the right strategy.

An excerpt from my aforementioned, poor, e-mail argument, in Norwegian, follows.

5 grunner til å ta i bruk WordPress-MU ved NTNU, og snart:

1. Det er effektivt.

Man unngår dobbeltarbeid/trippeltarbeid som vil gjelder:
(1) Fremtidige oppdatering til nye versjoner
(2) Installasjon av eventuelle nye blogger blir lettere. Nå kreves det at man må fikle fram og tilbake med server- og installasjons innstillinger.
(3) Godkjente malverk blir oppdater sentralt, og det blir ekstra lett å formidle malverk til nye installasjoner.

2. Det er mindre risikofylt.

Sikkerhets tiltak påvirker alle brukere. Dette er en forbedring på en situasjon som vi har i dag hvor et tiltak som er gjennomført på en blogg, er ikke nødvendigvis gjort på den andre p.g.a. tidspress/glemmeboken.

3. Det er billig.
Wordpress MU er også gratis. Det eneste kostnad du har nå er eventuelle regninger fra meg (som jeg har nesten ikke tid til å generere). Det er bare logisk at flere enkelt installasjoner vil kreve mer tid enn 1 sentraliserte installasjon som er skalerbar og påvist. Om tiden viser at det er ønskelig, finnes det rimelig alternativer for støtte fra utviklere som ikke koster mer per år enn å kjøpe inn 2 kopi av Adobe Photoshop. (Basis pakke = ca 15,000 NOK). Dette anbefales. (Les mer om Support Network).

4. Det er mer kundevennlig.
Når eventuelle drift er nødvendig, vil sluttbrukerne ikke merke det. Eventuelle problemer blir løst for alle brukerne samtidig. Vanskelige problemer kan lettere håndteres uten unødvendig forsinkelse forbundet med tilgang til kataloger, rettigheter, innsyn i serverens arkitektur, m.m.

5. Det er smart.
Harvard bruker det.
New York Times bruker det.
NRK skal nå begynne å bruke det.

. . . og hvis man installer WordPress MU ved NTNU … kunne Universitetsavisa og Gemini bruker det. :)
(Noe som er faktisk nevnt så vidt av Ole Nordal i sin blogg post: En Ny IT-revolusjon? [når han skrev] ”En liten digresjon: Jeg merker meg at Rektor bruker WordPress som teknologiløsning. Mye smartere og bedre enn det som er tilgjengelig i NTNU-portalen sier nå jeg. NTNU.noer jo litt omfattende for wordpress, men dette burde i det minste Uni-avisa vurdert… ”

Read the whole thing? Cool, but surprising. You might be interested in: a short list of blogs from other universities.

Student users passionately dislike ItsLearning

Christine Sætre — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:48:27 +0000

Cross browser incompatibility and security setting inconveniences are nothing new, so when a colleague told me she could not log into ItsLearning using Internet Explorer 7 and consequently resorted (her words not mine) to Firefox whenever she needed ItsLearning, I went looking for a post on the browser or cookies-setting that I could recommend she change. Not everyone at the university has this far-better-browser installed, so I was certain I would come across this question again soon.

What I found was a well written post from a student entitled: it’s:learning™ is crap! The post’s author, clearly an informed thoughtful user is both thorough and structured in their critique. But that is not all. This engaged user shares a bit about their attempt to help the developers, only to be rebuffed:

I was contacted 2005-12-15 by it:solutions support personnel, and mailed back and forth a number of times. I lobbied for a separate interface that’s designed for efficient use, but they did not appear to grasp concepts such as usability vs usefulness, and had no distinction between presentation and business logic.

Needless to say, the post’s author is now a passionate detractor.

That this should be the case would surprise me, if I hadn’t experienced it myself, and often. Constructive criticism is increasingly lumped with general whining, treated with halfhearted “thanks for your suggestion” platitudes, even condescending arrogance. The host of new media interactivity options (blogs, forums, social networking, etc.) has raised the noise level for developers, and it isn’t surprising that they should want to listen only to compliments and conciliatory suggestions, while dismissing instances of emphatic criticism.

Of course, there is better way to look at it. It’s far better to have critics that not, and way better for business. Kathy Sierra, co-creator of the Head First book series cleverly called it the Kool-Aid point.

The Kool-Aid Point: “You don’t really have passionate users until someone starts accusing them of ‘drinking the Kool-Aid.’ If you create passionate users, you have to expect passionate detractors. You should welcome their appearance in blogs, forums, and user groups. It means you’ve arrived. (Posted on headrush.typepad.com)

If you are a smart developer, a smart inventor, or a smart start-up, you will use this feedback and recognize it for what it is: a potential road map to success or an opportunity to create customer loyalty. (Did you just hear: blah, blah, blah? Well, maybe you just need a cup of coffee. ) Focus groups are useful. But I contend that they are not nearly as valuable as engaged user feedback. Questionnaires are limiting. Yes-men are useless.

If you haven’t already, check out Get Satisfaction and the products and services that participate there. The site provides an effective forum for customers to communicating directly with the companies behind the products and services they use, a mechanism for prioritizing feedback, and customers communicating and supporting each other.

… Oh yeah, and I dare say, ItsSolutions is not very smart. (And, if you are interested in my opinion, when it comes to ItsLearning I agree with the passionate detractor mentioned earlier.)

Rector embraces web 2.0

Christine Sætre — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:56:53 +0000

An “enabler” of the Rector’s recent forray into the world of blogs, I was curious and pleased that the debut sparked a bit of discussion.

Arne Krokan, a Professor of “Technology, communication, organization and society” writes in his post “My rector blogs as well” that:

(Translated from the original Norwegian) Rector at NTNU, Torbjørn Digernes, is following in the footsteps of several of his Danish colleagues, and starting to blog. I consider these “corporate blogs” important, because they play a role in making visible what leaders are concerned with, and they contribute to contemplation of important, organizational and political issues. In this manner more and more academic and political issues come to light, prior to our hearing about them or being “exposed to them” through (channels) the line organization. (Min rektor blogger også – Nov. 4 2008)

Historian and researcher (IDI, SVT), Ola Nordal writes in his post a “A new IT revolution? “:

(Translated from the original Norwegian) Two observances from today: NTNU´s Rector has got himself his own blog, and FAST Search & Transfer´s John M. Lervik has blind faith in the future of the search engine company (it is still streaming from the IT-ovation conference where he presented earlier today). I conclude, first: Something is happening in regards to how people use the Internet. The tools have been there a long time, but it seems that it is only now that their potential is beginning to be utilized. The first key word is “contact interface”… [ ... ] How Digernes is going to use his blog will be exciting to follow; personally I hope it will be somewhat fresher than the “Rector´s column” in the university paper (Universitetsavisa).

A little digression: I notice that the rector is using WordPress as a technology solution. Much smarter and better that what is available for NTNU´s web portal, I would say. NTNU.no is far too large and complex for WordPress, but it should at least be considered by the university newspaper (Universitetsavisa). WordPress for an online newspaper sounds perhaps a little hazardous, but it would be better than the solution they have now. Not least because the Rector´s blog is already in my RSS-reader, while Universitetsavisa is still not. RSS has been available for a while now, and it is soon quite overdue that the news organization at Norway´s technology university acquires it? (En ny IT-revolusjon, – Oct 22, 2008).

An IT-revolution it isn’t, but progress it is indeed, given that the focus remains on content. As a technology enthusiast the form and the trend is interesting to me of course. The larger point however — not lost on these two social commentators — is the impact that direct and unfiltered communication can have on an organization.

Interested in trends of this nature?
Blog usage examples from other universities (US/UK).
Interested in some tips about this form of communication?
Blogging writing guide
Bloggers at/from NTNU
An incomplete list

NTNU bloggers

Christine Sætre — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:18:28 +0000

An incomplete list of NTNU-bloggers, with content and observances either academic or technical in orientation. The collection is in no particular order, and includes only those I have stumbled upon.

Ole Nordal – Research Scientist – Computer and Information Science
Life according to Ole Nordal – http://ola.teks.no/blog/
Arne Krokan – Sociology and Political Science
Oppvekst i det Digitale Nettsamfunnet – http://arnek.wordpress.com/
Torbjørn Digernes – University Rector
Rektors-side – http://www.ntnu.no/rektors-side
Rolf Andre Bohne - Researcher Industrial Ecology – Sustainable infrastructure.
http://bohne.blogg.no/
Rune Andersen – IT engineer – Web development at the Faculty
IMEbeta http://www.ime.ntnu.no/blog/beta/
Team NTNU – Cross country ski team (langrennsløperne) – The sport and events
http://www.ntnu.no/blogger/team-ntnu
Geomatics research group – Faculty and students – Geomatics, maps
Terra Incognita http://geomatikk.blogspot.com/
Alexander Nossum – PhD research fellow – Geomatics (Visual analytics)
What’s Sound? http://blog.eksplisitt.net/
AltUnd members – Student group for alternative teaching methods – Web criticism and trends
AltUnd – http://altund.wordpress.com/
University Library Staff – Libraries at NTNU
UBiT 2010 – http://ubit.blogs.bibsys.no/ubit2010/
NTNU Information dept. & marketing staff - Innovation and entrepreneurship
Partnere for nyskaping http://www.ntnu.no/innovator/

(To do: Organize this list :) )

Blogs used increasingly by universities

Christine Sætre — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:52:04 +0000

A short list of blogs — of varying degrees of quality — united by the fact that they are used in academic circles. Their purposes range from organizational communication to public relations. The list is by no means comprehensive. An eventual elaboration to come, with a list of blogs in used for and by academic subgroups for academic pursuits.

Administration and PR

Harvard Business School blog – “From the Director”
www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/blog.html
University of Chicago Law School – Faculty Blog
uchicagolaw.typepad.com/faculty/2006/01/why_the_senate_.html
Princeton University Library Blog
blogs.princeton.edu/englib/
From the President’s desk – Michigan State University
president.msu.edu/
University of Oxford – admissions interview blog (www.oxblogster.blogspot.com/ )
www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_releases_for_journalists/071206.html
NTNU ! Geomatikk blogg – Terra Incognita (for studenter og ansatte ved faggruppen for geomatikk)geomatikk.blogspot.com/
Alumni blogs – MIT Sloan School of management
mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/alumni/blogs
Harvard University Press Publicity Blog
harvardpress.typepad.com/
Dean of Engineering – University of Connecticut
dean.engr.uconn.edu/blog/
Dean of Arts and Sciences – University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ascweb.blogspot.com/

Rune Andersen recognized for web accessibility efforts

Christine Sætre — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:33:35 +0000

Congratulations to Rune Anderson, recipient of NTNU´s annual Accessibility Prize for 2007/08 (Tilgjengelighetspris) for his campaign concerning web accessibility at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, and on websites in general.

Andersen, a web administrator and programmer for IME faculty, has evangelized the advisability, techniques, and payoffs of building accessible web pages and heeding web standards for a number of years now. While the university´s publishing system choice—the table-based Oracle Portal combined with the cumbersome eScenic Web Studio—fails miserably in terms of adherence to many of the basic principles, Andersen´s customized DokuWiki template complies to both the spirit and the letter of the accessibility standards. This template is freely available for installation, and is already the preferred publishing tool of many groups at NTNU.

The annual prize is awarded every year, by NTNU´s Council for Students with Disibilities (Råd for studenter med funksjonshemming) to a person or group that has significantly contributed to making NTNU accessible for all.

BBC.co.uk programmes sans hCalendar microformat

Christine Sætre — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:49:49 +0000

The BBC, ahead of the curve in terms of embedding microformatted data in their online content, has chosen to remove the hCalendar and abbreviation design pattern from their programme presentation, and will prioritize accessibility concerns instead. While microformats are a great tool (use of which makes parts or the whole of a page machine readable) it is laudable that those people using screen readers are being prioritized by the BBC.