Lists
1. One-to-many lists
If you use the Internet regularly it is almost impossible not to be included in a list these days. I have found myself included in some of the categories that provide a one-to-many list. These include:
(1) Purchase of software - you are usually offered the chance to receive regular news of updates and tutorials. (Adobe and Corel are particularly good with tutorials).
(2) Commercial purchases - Coles-on-line automatically sends weekly bargains forever if you use their site just once.
(3) Volunteer work and references - they want to keep you once they have snared your services.
(4) Interesting sites that crop up in courses. One that is particularly useful for background references and research in this course is:
Alertbox (http://www.alertbox.com) - Jacob Neilson is regarded as the leading researcher into web usability. His style is boring at times but his results on user's problems using the Internet are often eye-opening and very useful in web design. His recent article (Neilson, 2009) on readability of web pages on mobile phones was particularly interesting.
Many-to-many lists
Over the years I have joined, and mostly unsubscribed from, a variety of forums that provide help in various aspects of my course. Some of these include TextPad (text editor), Java (developer programming advice) and Microsoft.
The first time I tried I managed to negotiate the maze of enlisting procedures and (being desparate enough to try in the first place) put up my appeal for help immediately. I was very quickly told to check the archives first. Over time I came to realise that very few questions are new and the answer is usually there if you want to do a search. However, one did provide a forum for me to carry on a continued conversation with one expert in solving a particularly difficult (to me) problem.
The Blackboard, if used correctly, seems to me to be much more friendly in that you have a specific group that have common problems and can exchange specific information along with lecturer's updates. It has provided a particularly good medium in some of the more difficult programming subjects. It has also enabled lecturers to identify students who are having major difficulties and provide a timely remedy.
I have looked at social web contact sites but they do not appeal. It is probably my generation. As I indicated earlier:
- it is very easy to equate it to a real conversation with a known person and forget that you have no idea if the persona being portrayed is genuine
- it is easy to forget that that conversation is being stored in a permanent form somewhere and hence can have legal ramifications.
MSN, as a back-up to subjects, has been very revealing over time. You tend to get asked for help with a particular topic (I helped with the maths aspects and others with the programming problems) and then progress on to form a relationship with many of the individuals. It did make for more interesting personal interaction with other students and was often very rewarding. However, in several cases of marital problems or breakups, although I did not mind being a sympathetic ear, I was rather taken aback at the detail provided. My son laughed when I commented on this and said "Of course you are the perfect person to say it to, they can't say things like that to friends and family". Chat room style communication reminds me of the anonymity of train or bus stops where strangers will often offload something they cannot say to people they know - an understandable but potentially dangerous practice.
Overall, I have found the fast, varied methods of communication challenging, very useful and rewarding. I do not dislike the methods but worry about the culture that has developed in people of all ages where many do not seem to be aware of the risks involved if they do not use some care when using them.
Neilson, J (2009) Mobile Web 2009 = Desktop Web 1998. Retrieved 29 March 2009 from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/mobile-usability.html .
March 29, 2009
Email considerations
General Discussion
The problem with this course is that it is so easy to get side-tracked - download Outlook and compare it with Thunderbird and Outlook Express, look for reference in Alertbox and end up reading other appealing titles, etc. I will try to write in heading and short sentences to maximize readability.
1. Immediacy of return of email
Most employees (and retirees) have tasks that required concentration when working on the computer. Work computers are often set to ring when an email arrives and work stops to check it. Neilson (2004) claims that:
"A one-minute interruption of your colleagues will cost them ten minutes of productivity as they re-establish their mental context and get back into "flow." Only the most important messages are worth 1,000 percent in overhead costs."
A more productive method would appear to be to check email in-boxes at regular intervals. Neilson recommends that you should "Establish a company culture in which it's okay not to respond to email immediately."
2. Saving and Back-up
I have sub-files in all other set-ups - don't know why I didn't think of this for email earlier. However, from hard experience, I have found that saving to a file and address book entries in an email program does not automatically mean it is saved in a back-up program. I will have to work out how to either set this up or simply save to "My Documents" regularly.
3. Attachments - coding and format
In helping fellow retirees with computer problems, one of the most common questions is "How do I open this attachment?" (followed by "How do I reduce the size of this photo?"). The suggestion to add a message at the end of an email that contains an attachment detailing the program used and the coding is useful. While the information may not always help the recipient directly it will save the time of the person called in to help. Adding a link to a program that changes the coding to a more readable form would help too.
4. Abbreviations and smilies
I am slowly learning what the more common versions of these mean. They are great to impart more feeling and personalisation to the message. However, I suggest that writers check the meaning (just as they check the spelling) before they send it. I still remember asking what her "lol" meant when replying to an msn. The sender had no idea.
5. Automatically adding emails to folders on receipt
I feel this is not a good idea - with the exception of junk mail. It is easy to miss a new entry in a file containing similar entries. It would be more efficient to read the in-box and file immediately to existing folders.
Again, from hard experience, junk mail folders can be trained (Thunderbird and Outlook) but need to be checked for automatically excluded important documents (results of an OUA exam for one). I remember listening to a tirade about email letters to her family not being delivered. The person concerned was continually telling very dubious jokes and managed to improve her hit rate considerably once she had junk mail filters explained.
6. Metadata
Surface data (titles) is obvious. I will have to investigate implied data. There are search functions in both Outlook and Thunderbird but I have not yet solved if you have to define metadata keywords and terms or if they are automatically included in the search. It will be interesting to see how efficient the programs are.
Answers to General Questions
1. All three programs listed the title, sender and subject. However, only Outlook enabled me to investigate the origin of the email (server) and path taken.
2. The 'cc' function allows me to send the same email to a number of people at one time. It particular it enables the coordination of groups and resources within an organization or a project.
The 'bcc' allows me to forward a copy of the mail to someone else without the original receiver being aware of it.
If a reply to an email originally envolved a group of people ("cc" or "bcc") 'Reply to all' simply allows me to send the same email to all the poeple involved in this original email. It can be very dangerous in that the total number of emails can escalate rapidly if used indiscriminantly.
3. See above.
4. This was interesting in that I had filters to exclude some unsolicited emails that had become a nuisance. I had to reinstall after a power wipe-out and have now found that this is one area that I had not backed up.
5. See above.
Neilson, J. (2004, January 4). Ten Steps for Cleaning Up Information Pollution. Retrieved March 29, 2009, from Alertbox: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040105.html
The problem with this course is that it is so easy to get side-tracked - download Outlook and compare it with Thunderbird and Outlook Express, look for reference in Alertbox and end up reading other appealing titles, etc. I will try to write in heading and short sentences to maximize readability.
1. Immediacy of return of email
Most employees (and retirees) have tasks that required concentration when working on the computer. Work computers are often set to ring when an email arrives and work stops to check it. Neilson (2004) claims that:
"A one-minute interruption of your colleagues will cost them ten minutes of productivity as they re-establish their mental context and get back into "flow." Only the most important messages are worth 1,000 percent in overhead costs."
A more productive method would appear to be to check email in-boxes at regular intervals. Neilson recommends that you should "Establish a company culture in which it's okay not to respond to email immediately."
2. Saving and Back-up
I have sub-files in all other set-ups - don't know why I didn't think of this for email earlier. However, from hard experience, I have found that saving to a file and address book entries in an email program does not automatically mean it is saved in a back-up program. I will have to work out how to either set this up or simply save to "My Documents" regularly.
3. Attachments - coding and format
In helping fellow retirees with computer problems, one of the most common questions is "How do I open this attachment?" (followed by "How do I reduce the size of this photo?"). The suggestion to add a message at the end of an email that contains an attachment detailing the program used and the coding is useful. While the information may not always help the recipient directly it will save the time of the person called in to help. Adding a link to a program that changes the coding to a more readable form would help too.
4. Abbreviations and smilies
I am slowly learning what the more common versions of these mean. They are great to impart more feeling and personalisation to the message. However, I suggest that writers check the meaning (just as they check the spelling) before they send it. I still remember asking what her "lol" meant when replying to an msn. The sender had no idea.
5. Automatically adding emails to folders on receipt
I feel this is not a good idea - with the exception of junk mail. It is easy to miss a new entry in a file containing similar entries. It would be more efficient to read the in-box and file immediately to existing folders.
Again, from hard experience, junk mail folders can be trained (Thunderbird and Outlook) but need to be checked for automatically excluded important documents (results of an OUA exam for one). I remember listening to a tirade about email letters to her family not being delivered. The person concerned was continually telling very dubious jokes and managed to improve her hit rate considerably once she had junk mail filters explained.
6. Metadata
Surface data (titles) is obvious. I will have to investigate implied data. There are search functions in both Outlook and Thunderbird but I have not yet solved if you have to define metadata keywords and terms or if they are automatically included in the search. It will be interesting to see how efficient the programs are.
Answers to General Questions
1. All three programs listed the title, sender and subject. However, only Outlook enabled me to investigate the origin of the email (server) and path taken.
2. The 'cc' function allows me to send the same email to a number of people at one time. It particular it enables the coordination of groups and resources within an organization or a project.
The 'bcc' allows me to forward a copy of the mail to someone else without the original receiver being aware of it.
If a reply to an email originally envolved a group of people ("cc" or "bcc") 'Reply to all' simply allows me to send the same email to all the poeple involved in this original email. It can be very dangerous in that the total number of emails can escalate rapidly if used indiscriminantly.
3. See above.
4. This was interesting in that I had filters to exclude some unsolicited emails that had become a nuisance. I had to reinstall after a power wipe-out and have now found that this is one area that I had not backed up.
5. See above.
Neilson, J. (2004, January 4). Ten Steps for Cleaning Up Information Pollution. Retrieved March 29, 2009, from Alertbox: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040105.html
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