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Category Archives: tools

I can think of ways this will get very unCivil, very quickly!

As I was taking care of some personal business, like a real responsible adult (*cough* parking ticket disputes *cough*) I stumbled on this gem, and I don’t know how I feel about it:
the New York State E-Courts, a portal for finding up-to-date court information over the net. Although this kind of info is readily available from the courthouses themselves, and it’s really only a matter of going down there, making this info readily available and easily searchable makes it all the more easy to unearth anyone’s legal history. This transparency could be used for good, or it could be used for eeeeevil.

Thus I posted my latest shifts here: http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcivilLocal/LCSearch?param=p. Note: you will probably get a re-direct to a log-in page first, where you will have to accept their EULA and solve a crappy CAPCHA to gain access to the database. (And these are the only barriers to access; another thing worth noting….)

By harlo 18:51, Nov 10th, 09 tools No Comments

Shift My Homo

I just performed my first Shift Space, and only my fourth categorical act of queer media activism (1. coming out 7 yrs. ago, 2. volunteering @ Basic Rights Oregon, 3. blogging).  Exciting!  Now my actual shift needs some help. Here it is:

First Gay Shift

The source shift leads to an effective pro-Queer video called Permission. I’d like to make this a better shift by having it hyperlink. How do I do that? Also, should I enable trails? How else could I improve it.

It was very empowering to comment on a site and article that I find particularly odious. The old, “if you let queers marry, you’d have to let humans marry cousins or donkeys argument” wears extremely thin for me, and hopefully the majority at NYU, at least. I loved speaking truth to power with this wonderful video online that was circulated to me via FaceBook initially. Thank you, Mushon and partners, for creating this exciting, open software!

And for those of you who are curious about the video, here it is:

YouTube Preview Image
By gorditamedia 14:30, Nov 9th, 09 fyi tools 7 Comments

I CAN HAZ POLLZ

We can now use polls on our site (built in):

Here’s how to use it:

By Mushon 17:59, Nov 5th, 09 how to tools No Comments

A Week Without Google

For Next Week (Sep 29th):

Experiment: A week without Google

In the coming week starting from the end of this class we will attempt to make it through a whole week without using any Google service. Not Google Search, not Gmail, not Google Talk, not Google Video, not Google Docs, not Google Maps, not Google Earth, not Google News, not Google Groups, not Youtube, not Google Video, not Blogger, not Picasa, not Google Calendar, not Google Checkout, not iGoogle, not Google Translate,not Google Voice, not Google Chrome, if you have a G1 phone, you are not allowed to use Google services with it, talk and text only… you get the point.

It’s not going to be easy and hence we will not attempt to create an unfeasible challenge. We will keep a promise to each other to follow some rules:

  1. Whenever we are passively exposed to Google content (an embedded Google video, map, and so on…) we post that link to delicious.com (this is how to post to delicious.com) using the tags ‘tdmcc’, ‘weekwithoutgoogle’ and ‘ambushed’ (+whatever else you want to include)
  2. Whenever we break and use a Google service, we report about it to the blog, as a comment on this post.
  3. If we totally break altogether, we write a post about it as soon as we decide to pull out, summarizing the experience.

We will also try to support each other in the process by:

  1. If you use Gmail, please make sure to set a forward on your email to another email service (either on or offline). Please do that as the first thing you do after this class, and not later than 8am tomorrow morning.
  2. Every time you are about to use Google, and find a way around it, try to propose the alternative to the class by tagging the alternative with the tags ‘nmrs’, ‘weekwithoutgoogle’ and ‘dodged’.
  3. Share tactics on the blog. Work together to try to make it.
  4. Previous classes found the use of this Firefox plugin useful, so if you find you just can’t trust yourself use it to block any Google domain. In the options add the following urls: 
    *.google.*
*.youtube.*
*.googlegroups.*
*.blogspot.*
*.blogger.*
*.gmail.*
*.picasa.*
*.google-analytics.*

    (am I missing anything?)(I know I am)

This is trust based only, but those of us who will manage to take this challenge on and make it through the week will win the class’s medal of honor.

Good luck!
(we’re going to need it)

By Mushon 20:30, Sep 22nd, 09 Uncategorized tools 38 Comments

Feed me…

Today we talk in class about feeds.

A web feed is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Such web feeds include formats like RSS, Atom and Json. An RSS feed looks something like this (select view>view source to see the code). When you see this icon you should expect to find a link to some sort of a feed.

Obviously a feed is no fun unless there’s a convenient way to read it. One way we are already reading feeds is here on our blog, where we’re using a built in RSS reader to present a feed from delicious.com/tags/tdmccc. The big deal about feeds though is not only the fact you can present them across sites, but the fact you can arrange and customize your own feed aggregator. Feed aggregators can come in different shapes and colors, some are built in to your email software, others are standalone apps, and others can be totally web-based. My favorite is Netvibes – a very flexible and customizable web-based aggregator. Safari & Firefox have built in feed aggregators, other popular ones are FeedDemon, Bloglines, Thunderbird e-mail client, Newsvine, You can get some more recommendations everywhere around the web like here, here and here.

Basically iTunes is a feed aggregator for feeds in the format of a podcast where the items include a link to an MP3 file. iTunes can use this feed to sync your iPod and download podcasts into it.

Feeds are also used to create mash-ups – take information from different sources and mash them together. The classic example for a mash-up is HousingMaps – a mashup that takes a feed from Craigslist’s apartment search and mashes it into Google Maps – which allows to display rss data as information on the map.

The use of web feeds is a revolution, as we should understand that information on the web functions as a public database – it does not necessarily stay on one page, but can travel a long way and be used in different contexts.

By Mushon 13:44, Sep 12th, 09 tools No Comments