Trees! Blog 3

The basics of this reading come down to: "A lumper takes things that seem disparate and combines them because they have something similar. A splitter tends to take two thins that are lumped together and separate them into smaller categories." Personally, I believe no one can be a lumper. If you think about when your organizing and categorizing, your splitting something eventually, even if it is just two branches off the main subject. People can be extraordinary splitters and keep making and defining new branches off the tree, but there is no lumping. Lumping is just the definition of someone that hasn't even started the organization process. Lumpers are just lazy splitters! 


The most interesting part of this reading was when the author started to talk about digital "trees". If Aristotle was around in the digital world I think his head would have probably explode. He helped pioneer the the pre digital way of categorization. The pre digital way of categorization consisted of starting with something basic, like an insect, and splitting insects into different branches, i.e flying, non-flying. From there you would break it up into even more branches/categories. In the digital world categorizing, searching, and organizing is built around you. The tree consist of you defining where you want to start and you wouldn't be limited to certain branches. Instead of having to categorize some kind of flying insect under just insects, you are now able to jump around the "tree of knowledge" and have flying insects under flying and insects. The last paragraph from chapter three sums it up perfectly!


When looking at myself within this world of organization I would have to say that in the digital world I am more of a splitter, but in the physical world I would come off more of as a lumper. In the digital world I have to have organization. I can't just have a file that says "Homework" and put all of my assignments in it. On my computer at work I will split it up the Homework folder into sub-folders with names of the classes. On my external hard drive it opens with Washington State University-> The semester of school-> The course registered for-> HW assignment. An example of the physical world, and why i'm a lumper, would be that of my cloths. A true lumper would have his/her cloths in a big pile to sort through everyday. Personally I like to at least hang some up or put in draws. The draws don't really matter that much and i'm not to picky. Technically you could call me a splitter... but whatever! 


People that aren't in the a technical major/field could find my way of digital organizing over the top. Its all about personal preference. Having a organized digital life shows people what my priorities are. I have to admit though, sometimes the digital world can become too overwhelming with information. I definitely need to do a major clean up of certain areas on my hard drive. 

Organization Blog 2

What caught my attention the most out of the beginning of Everything is Miscellaneous- the power of the new digital disorder was the idea of tagging and cataloging digital items. The prologue to this book caught my attention immediately; i was hooked. The idea of organizing in the physical world is kind of a humorous idea now. We as a society are moving more and more closely to a pure digital world. Personally, I cant decide yet if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Anyways, I even laughed a little out loud at this point "... the solution to the overabundance of information is more information." It seems funny that in order to be organized we have to add information (tagging) to digital artifacts. But, it makes total since. Instead of having to have a physical label and a physical location, we know have the opportunity to tag and find the same digital artifact in millions of different "places". "Instead of everything having its place, it's better if things can get assigned multiple places simultaneously."


Personally I am not the more organized person... I will be the first to admit that. I feel that if I actually organized I can make my life easier. Maybe I find it fun and it works the brain having to remember where i put certain things digitally and physically. I guess I can say I organize better in the digital world then the real world. I have my Google calendar plugged and ready to go as well as a semi-organized work hours sheet to keep track of my job. I like to label folders and I have an external hard drive that has music and school work organized. But, for the real world, I really need to get better at keeping things organized and neat. I know where the important stuff is at all times: cellphone, wallet, keys, and my watch. 

Web 2.0 Five Years On

When I look at the advancements of the web from when the original Web 2.0 idea came around the main difference I see is that of the improvement of the actual hardware and technology. One of the main focuses in this article is that of mobile devices and the applications they run. Smartphone’s and PDA’s have been around for years, but within the last 3-5 years they have transformed how communication and social networking work. I bring hardware into this discussion for the fact that people have great ideas, but without the development of better equipment, it only stays an idea, a theory. The building of cell towers, Internet connections, and advancement in computers, Smartphone’s, and now tablets make it easier to interact with people around the world, as well as develop amazing ideas we would have never thought possible. These devices are also becoming cheaper and more people are able to afford them; thus connecting people to the online world and contributing to the ever growing human network.

A part of the article I found very interesting was that of Photosynth, Gigapixle Photography, and Infinite Images. This idea of combing thousands of photos and making 3D worlds is very interesting and amazing. Infinite Images gives, “the ability of the computer to synthesize imaginary worlds that never existed, extrapolating a complete 3D experience from a set of photos.” This idea will be played into geo-tagging photos. Millions of people around the world will come together and design amazing 3D images. It’s not just about the beautiful images they create, but about the exploration of this idea that really excites me.

Deciding the most exciting web application I have seen this past year is pretty difficult. Overall I just think it is interesting how social networking has developed and how big the industry has gotten these past couple years. I would have never thought of my mom having a Facebook account, but now I am used to the idea. It’s interesting to see where the media goes with this social networking phenomenon. Companies no longer just advertise their website or physical location; they want the consumer to know that they are on Facebook, or have a Twitter account.

Mobility is the future!

Thought this was kind of funny… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz4GwLpxAhc