Thing 23: Virtual Worlds

A virtual world is a computer-based immersive environment in which users control their surroundings through the use of a personalized "avatar" (a virtual representation of oneself). Virtual worlds enable avatars to manipulate and interact with virtual elements or other avatars in a two- or three-dimensional setting.

assignment:
1.
public diplomacy can use AVATAR to promote awarness of issues such as saving energy, environment and facilitated information. example, how saving environment save future generation and vice versa damaging environment with irresponsible actions kill the coming generation and deprive them from resources.

2. creating virtual books might help spread knowledge.

3. we can use virtual worlds in teaching how to use encyclopedia, teaching English, social networks and courses like this one : Learning 2.0 : 23 things to do .

Thing 22: The Mobile Web

As mobile phones become more and more common, the technology that powers them becomes much more sophisticated.

Learn More About It:

1. Read 7 Things You Should Know About QR Codes (Educause)
2. Read 7 Things You Should Know About Location Aware Applications (Educause)
3. Read the Wikipedia entry on the Mobile Web
4. Read I am Here: One Man's Experiment With the Location-Aware Lifestyle (Wired)
5. Read How To Sync Google Services With Your Mobile Device (Mashable)
6. Watch the video "The Fourth Screen"

assignment

went to dotmobi to check how the our site is displayed in a mobile (doesnt show)

but from my mobile, i can see the site highlights and tabs.

Thing 21: Short Message Service (SMS)

In most cases, text messaging is used in place of making voice calls and more often than not, text messaging is much cheaper. In some countries, social networks and websites such as Twitter, Facebook and Google have incorporated text messaging into their frameworks.

1. SMS is the most widespread way of communication in Oman especially with the introduction of new mobile technologies like Blackburry and Iphone. it is easir for people with busy scheduls. the government. also sms is very popular with mobile prepaid cards subscibers.

Here, we have used sms to announce for our IV programs and scholarships before.

Thing 20: Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization is making content on your Web site more likely to come up in a keyword search. According to the Wikipedia article on the topic,

Because search engines are the most common ways people will find a Web site's content, it is important to tailor your site so that engines can easily find what they are interested in. The Diplopedia article, Search Engine Optimization Tips, has several simple ideas on how you can do this.

• Create useful and engaging content
• Use common language -- opt for terms that people most commonly search for
• Create meaningful titles -- search engines weigh heavily on page titles when determining search results
• Increase your connections by encouraging inbound links -- the more people link to your site, the more apt your site is to come up higher in a search results list
• Determine your connections -- using Google, do the following search to find out a sampling of other sites that link to yours: link: your URL (there is a space after the colon). For example, this search:
  "link: http://xyz" results in a list of over 20,000 Web sites that link to U.S. Embassy Nairobi's Web site.
• Use internal links to take people to relevant, related content on other parts of your site.
• Analyze site statistics. See Thing 19.
• Use appropriate keywords.
  *Google Trends can help you do this. It shows how often a particular keyword or keyword phrase is used, and where in the world it is used the most. You can also compare the usage of two similar terms. For example, go to Google Trends and search for h1n1, "swine flu". Note that in some parts of the world, swine flu is used almost exclusively, whereas in other areas, h1n1 is used. You can use this information to make sure that your site is using the appropriate keyword for your audience.
  *Google Ad Words can give you ideas of other keywords to use. Simply type in a keyword or phrase and the tool will give you the search volume for that particular term and ideas for other keywords to use.
  *Google Insights for Search lets you compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories and time. You can find out what the world is searching for here.
  Do not add blocks of keywords to your metatag area simply to improve your site's ranking. This can results in the search engine banning your site.

Assignment:

1. I used the word Iftar Vs Breaking Fast (the time when Muslim eat after fasting in the month of Ramadan):

Iftar generated

1.Turkey (highest)
2.United Arab Emirates
3.Pakistan
4.Netherlands
5.Germany
6.Austria
7.India
8.Belgium
9.United Kingdom (non)
10.Canada (almost non)
while breaking fast generated:
1. Malaysia (highest)
2.United States
3.Canada (medium)
4.Australia
5.United Kingdom (low)
6.India (lowest)

2. i brok down the search to region: Oman. The words Iftar and breaking fast have no result. it only accepts the word Ramadan which had high ranking.

3. Now go to Google AdWords and type in a keyword or phrase that you commonly post information about on your Web site. Note how often that term or phrase is used in searches. See if you can find another keyword that means the same thing that is used more often:

i typed the word visa vs. trave to USA. Travel to USA has more search results than visa

4. results of face book in Oman using Google Insights for Search: http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=face%20book&geo=OM&cmpt=geo

Thing 19: Web Site Usage Statistics

Studying Web site usage statistics, or otherwise referred to as Web analytics, is a very important exercise for many reasons. According to the Web Analytics Association, "Web Analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of Internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing Web usage."

Using Web Site RankingsThere are a few companies that retrieve information about Web site usage internationally. The most popular and most accessible is Alexa. Alexa has a list of top sites by country where you can see the 100 Web sites that are accessed in your country most frequently.

Google AnalyticsMany Webmasters use Google Analytics to measure their Web site's or blog's usage. This free service gives insights into a site's traffic. You can create custom reports on a myriad of data. Google Analytics can help a Webmaster or a blogger determine how to market a site or blog in a more effective way.

* assignment: i have browzed the list of top sites by country choosing my country Oman.
* The top and the top 5 sites in Oman are:

• Google
• youtube.com
• Yahoo!
• omantel.om
• Windows Live
• مجموعة ترايدنت العربية

The top social networking platform in Oman

• Facebook
• سبلة عمان
• Blogger.com
• Maktoob.com Inc.

I am the webmaster of the post. it is very good to know the statistics of the visits to our site.

Thing 18: What's New With Search Engines

Custom Search EnginesA custom search engine is a site that allows you to search only those resources you have selected. This could be useful if you want to select a bunch of authoritative sites on a particular topic and limit your searches to them. We discuss two of the most popular custom search engine services here.

• Google Custom Search Google Custom Search allows you to create your own search engine. Let's say that you are researching a topic such as nuclear non-proliferation. You know that there are a few sites that have a lot of information on this topic and you want to have a search engine that just focuses on it. We created a custom search engine called Nuclear Non-Proliferation. This engine indexes three sites: the Federation of American Scientists (http://www.fas.org), the United Nations (http://www.un.org), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (http://www.iaea.org). Note that you can add a link to this search engine to your blog or web page.
• Rollyo (Roll Your Own) Rollyo is similar to Google Custom Search. You can try searching other search engines, called "Searchrolls" or you can create your own after registering for the service.

Search Options in Google: In order to use Google's search options, you must be signed in to your Google account. If you do a regular search when you're signed in, you'll notice a link before the search results called +Show options. If you click on this link, several options will appear on the left side of the window, including ways to narrow your results by date, format, and view. You can also comment on Web sites that you find interesting, and you can move results up on your list if they are useful to you. The comments that you make can be personal (only available to you when you're signed in) or you can make them public so that others can read them.

Semantic Web Search Engines: Semantic search is a way of retrieving search results based on semantics. Semantics is the science of language and the connection or meaning of words. Computers can search for and present information but don't really understand the meaning of the words that make up the documents. The semantic Web is about having data attached to documents that enable computers to understand the information better so that searchers can obtain more relevant results. The semantic Web has not been realized yet, but many researchers, including Tim Berners-Lee (the inventor of the World Wide Web) are working on it. Some say that the semantic Web will be Web 3.0. Semantic search uses a semantic network to map meanings and relationships of words. Some examples are:

• GoPubMed -- This is actually a semantic interface for PubMed, the National Institutes of Health medical database
• Hakia
• Powerset -- Uses information solely from Wikipedia
• True Knowledge - Requires free registration
• Yebol

assignment

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Thing 17: Books 2.0

i love this topic and wondered about the printed books .
i loved the resources provided here. i think most of the people especially from my country do not know about this.

• Google Books: has a variety of online books
• LitLovers LitLovers began as an online course and has grown into a literature community. Look here for ideas on how to start and run a book club, how to discuss a book, and more.
• Kidsreads and Teenreads Kidsreads and Teenreads are great places for young people to find information about their favorite books and authors. You can find book reviews, interviews with authors, games and other information here.
• Wired for BooksWired for Books is a project sponsored by Ohio University. It provides audio interviews with famous authors, including major prize winners.
• another wonderfully resources: e-Books Electronic books, or e-books, are read on your computer or a mobile device such as a cell phone or an e-book reader such as a Kindle. We have listed a few places where you can find free ebooks.
• Ebooks on America.gov
• ebrary Discover offers over 20,000 free e-books with a $5 registration fee.
• BooksInMyPhone
• Google Books for Mobile Phones
• The Online Books Page Lists over 35,000 electronic books, sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania.
• Project Gutenberg was the first producer of electronic books.
  NetLibrary Did you know that NetLibrary has lots of free ebooks in its catalog? The Ralph Bunche Library also subscribes to hundreds of proprietary ebooks that you can read.

Audio Books Here are some resources to help you find and download books in audio form and "bookcasts."

• LibriVox LibriVox provides free audio books from the public domain. You can listen from your computer or on a portable device such as an iPod.
• Open Culture Open Culture links to several audio books, including university course materials, foreign language learning resources, and more.
  Facebook ApplicationsThere are several applications on Facebook that focus on books.

Here are just a few:

• Visual Bookshelf
• WeRead (BooksiRead)
• WorldCat

very usefully and definitely will use when i make presentation of social media

Thing 16: Online Book Catalogs

There are a few popular book cataloging, or bookshelf sites on the Internet. These sites allow you to upload your book cataloging records to them. These sites can be very useful for keeping records of your personal book collection, having conversations with others about books, and getting suggestions for good books to read. Here are the most popular bookshelf sites, with a brief description of each:

• GoodReads is a free Web site for book enthusiasts who want to review, rate, and create a community around books that they like. You can categorize your books by those that you've read, are currently reading, or planning to read. You can also join book discussion groups, start book clubs, contact authors, and post your own writing. GoodReads is free , and there is no limit to the number of books you can add.
• LibraryThing was designed by librarians so it is has a lot more features than the other bookshelf sites. You can tag books by subject (see Thing #3) and you can organize them by Library of Congress classification number or Dewey. LibraryThing is free for the first 200 book records you enter. For $10 a year, or $25 for life, you can enter as many books as you like. Some libraries use LibraryThing for Libraries, which works with the library's online catalog to provide Web 2.0 features to the library's existing catalog.
• Shelfari Owned by Amazon.com, Shelfari is similar to GoodReads in that it focuses on social interaction around books.
• About WidgetsSome libraries use widgets from LibraryThing, GoodReads, or Shelfari to alert communities about new books that have been added to their collections. See the Anita Public Library (Iowa)'s Web site for a look at how new books appear using LibraryThing http://www.anita.swilsa.lib.ia.us/. You can also put these widgets in your Facebook page or blog to alert folks about new materials in your IRC.
  Read more about widgets here:
  LibraryThing: http://www.librarything.com/blog/2006/03/widgets-widgets-widgets.php
  Shelfari : http://www.shelfari.com/widget
  GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/134.New_Facebook_and_MySpace_profile_box

i already added books in my account.

http://www.librarything.com/addbooks

Thing 15: Discover Podcasting

A podcast is a digital recording that can be downloaded to a computer or some other digital device. The term was formed from the name of Apple's portal digital player, the iPod, and the word "broadcast." Podcasts can be audio or video files, and all sorts of events can be made into them, including foreign language classes, lectures, radio programs, interview and speeches, audio books, and more.

this is podcast of:

An Algerian Influence in Rural America


very good to know about this. this is very easy . anybody can access podcast about usufull issues easly.

Thing 14: Online Videos

Online video hosting services are specifically tailored social networking sites intended for users who want to upload, share and distribute their video clips. Many of these video hosting networks offer the basic features and limited server space of their site for free and charge a premium for the advanced features and hosting a large volume of video files (this business model is known as "Freemium"). Once uploaded, users can search a large collection of homemade and professional videos, comment on them and share them with their friends and family.

YouTube is a free social networking site owned and operated by Google dedicated to sharing user-generated videos. YouTube videos are "embeddable," meaning Web content creators can copy a unique link to a YouTube video and embed it on their own Web page, blog or social network. YouTube users are given a "channel," which is a central location that allows users to share uploaded videos, allow comments on the videos and read any other information the user wants to share. YouTube is an incredibly popular source for publishing and sharing videos online; in fact, 100,000,000 videos are viewed on YouTube everyday. Thirteen hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute. Even though YouTube is the most popular video sharing site, there are a few others you should know about:

• Flickr Video
• SchoolTube
• Vimeo

For your consideration:

• Most video network sites utilize the Adobe Flash Player to playback videos.
• Many video social networks offer their videos to be played back in Standard Quality (around 320x240), High Quality (around 480x360), and High Definition (around 1280x720).
• Most video network sites do not offer the capability to download most videos from the site.
• Users with video-enabled phones can upload videos directly from their phone to video social network sites.
• Video social networking sites are subject to very strict copyright regulations due to the fact that many of these sites have very few pre-screening features.
• The entire youtube website is now available with localized versions in 22 countries.
• YouTube allows users to embed captions or video annotations to their videos in multiple languages.

What did you think of "An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube?"

good and funny

What makes a "viral video" go viral? Humor is often a characteristic of viral videos, but not a defining one. A viral video is any video that's passed electronically, from person to person, regardless of its content.

When exploring YouTube, how did you discover new videos? Through specific search terms or browsing related videos? yes, search terms and brwosing.

How might you use YouTube as a way to engage your audience? sharing information and presentations like the one of the youtuve anthropolgical intrudction or teaching 101 of social media.

Thing 13: CO.NX Webchats

CO.NX (pronounced "connects") is a public diplomacy outreach project that uses Web conferencing and social networking to engage international audiences in online discussions. CO.NX uses Adobe Connect software to support both text-only and video chats. The software can integrate slideshows, podcasts, music and more. CO.NX is also an Internet-based community used to connect people from all over the world using a Facebook fan page. The network was developed by the State Department's Bureau of International Programs (IIP).

Your post can host its own CO.NX program, but it requires some planning ahead. Before you start thinking about what type of program you'd like to do, you'll need to set up a page to host your chats. Contact the CO.NX team (conx@state.gov) and request assistance in setting up a page.

Think about the communities you'd like to reach, how you will promote the program and your post's technical limitations. You can get some good ideas by looking at past Webchats on America.gov and going to the PD Toolkit on InfoCentral and reading about successful programs using CO.NX.

Lots of Embassies host an "Ask the Ambassador" series, which is quite popular. You can also link up a speaker in the U.S. with a local audience using CO.NX.


i watched the webchat about :the popular teen show called Musical high school.
logging into a webchat was easy and quick.

i am a co.nx fan in face book.

Thing 12: Mashups

A mashup is a Web page or application that combines data or functionality from two or more external sources to create a new service. Google Maps is an example of a mashup.

It is a free Web service that provides users with rich, dynamic and interactive worldwide map researching and creation tools. Google Maps offers world maps, a route planner, business directory, photo and video-sharing features and user-generated maps and landmarks. Google Maps is tremendously extensible allowing users to create and manipulate Google maps in unique ways. Using the Google Maps "API" (application programming interface"), Web developers can create their own Google Maps and implement them on their Web sites.

i created a google map called al Maskaries

Thing 11: Photo Sharing

Some of the most popular photo hosting and sharing sites are:
Photobucket http://www.photobucket.com
Picasa http://picasa.google.com
SmugMug http://www.smugmug.com/
Flickr, http://www.flickr.com, is a free photo and video sharing social network owned by Yahoo!. Flickr allows users to upload, edit, organize, share, tag and place photos on an interactive world map (commonly referred to as "geo-tagging").

As a social network, Flickr offers users to create and join groups where they can share their photos with other members of that group as well as post discussion topics and comments.

Flickr Details

• Requires a Yahoo! ID to log in.
• Limits uploads to 100 MB per month unless users subscribe to a "Pro" account ($25.00 USD). Pro users have no uploading limits.
• Users can edit their uploaded photos using an web application known as "Picnik."
• Flickr has open-sourced bits of their code to allow third party developers the ability to create interesting Web applications using your uploaded Flickr photos.
• Flickr has partnered with various third party print shops that provide simple printing solutions for any of your Flickr photos.
• Flickr photos are automatically copyrighted with all rights reserved. Flickr offers users Creative Commons licensing as well.

Mariam Flicker Account

Thing 10: Introduction to SharePoint

SharePoint is a nice tool to share information and knoweledge of different US Embassies. i felt it was easy to upload a document.

Thing 9: Document Sharing in the Cloud

Last year i gave a presentation about social media and its tools. one of them was teaching my audience the useful tools of google.doc. they enjoyed it.

answering the questions for thing 9:

i feel using google Doc is very usefull when working on a research by a group. as its mentioned one dosnt need to deal with attachments or big files that can not be sent fast.

so far no major drawbacks.

i have used google when was explaining it with almost 39 students who could access the material we wanted to work on. and people liked it.

Sharing documents and working on them collaboratively is a growing trend. There are several services that allow you to create or upload documents for sharing with others.

• Google Docs http://docs.google.com/
• Microsoft Office Live Workspace http://workspace.officelive.com/
• SlideShare http://www.slideshare.net/
• Zoho http://www.zoho.com/

Google Docs is a free web-based application suite that includes a word processor, a spreadsheet creator and a presentation designer. Google Docs allows users to create new or upload existing documents, save them to a centrally located Google server and share them with friends, family coworkers or publish them to the Internet. There are many features that separate Google docs from traditional word processing applications, the most significant one may be its inherent collaborative characteristics. Any Google document can be shared, opened and edited by multiple users at the same time and a history of every change to that document is automatically recorded and archived in case users need to revert to a previous format. Google documents may be saved and exported in the following formats; OpenDocument Text (.odt), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and Portable Document Format (.pdf).
More Information About Google Docs:

• Google documents are not saved on a locally operated computer, they are saved on a remote server (commonly referred to as "The Cloud," a growing trend of using web applications that may impact how we use software in the future).
• Google allows users to upload previously created word documents to Google Docs; however, the file size must not exceed 500k.
• Instead of emailing back and forth multiple versions of the same document, invite co-workers to edit one online document.
• Google offers another downloadable product called "Google Gears" which allows its users to view and edit previously created documents offline, without an Internet connection. Once users are able to connect to the Internet, all changes made offline are automatically synced with the documents in Google Docs.

Learn More About It:

• From the Horizon Report, 2009: One Year or Less (Cloud Computing)
• 7 Things You Should Know About Cloud Computing (Educause)
• Read Getting to Know Google Docs: Google Docs Basics
• Getting Started Guide (Google Docs)
• Getting Started Guide (Google Spreadsheets)
• Getting Started Guide (Google Presentations)
• Watch the Common Craft video: Cloud Computing in Plain English
• Watch the Common Craft video: Google Docs in Plain English

assignment:

• How might you use Google Docs as an alternative to the standard document creation tools in Microsoft Office?

actually i have used this feature and was very helpful with a group of people (learning resources specialists in Oman) instead of us having separate documents we could send information at the same time and make changes to same document. howeve i used to upload documents and than share which i cant manage to do now.

• What drawbacks did you notice in Google Docs, if any?

i feel the only drawback will be if this document go to unauthorized people . they can ruwin and mess with the document. also this will need a considerable amount of collaboration and dividing work among a group who is working with shared document so changes hapens only after all agreed.

• Describe your experience of collaborating on a single document with multiple users.

with the steps provided i ddnt find any problem. easy steps to follwo.

Thing 8: Collaboration Using Wikis

When we speak of collaborative web sites we are referring to sites that are written and edited by everyone who can access them. The most popular type of collaborative Web site is a wiki. According to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, http://www.wikipedia.org/

What a good info to know. in this way every one can contribute to the information provided and enhance knowledge.

the one question that i always think when i use wikis: to what extent is the information provided is accurate and reliable?

Assignment:

http://diplopedia.state.gov/index.php?title=Image:IRCtourismcollege.pdf

http://diplopedia.state.gov/index.php?title=Image:IRC_introduction.pdf