The subjective nature of cognitive surplus

In the Adventure Activity for the November 18th lesson, Web 2.0 Continues, the activity directed us to Clay Shirky's speech at the Web 2.0 conference. Shirky made some interesting points, but I don't think I completely agree with his views.

Firstly, Shirky needed to better articulate the differences between watching television and watching YouTube? For many, either way, you're sitting on your butt. Perhaps there is a bit of subversiveness with watching YouTube in that you're not necessarily watching something corporate giants are trying to shove down your throat (...or are you?). Maybe you burn more calories clicking and moving a mouse than a remote. Still, many people go online to watch television programs, whether it's the episode of Pushing Daisies you missed last Wednesday, or an obscure episode of Japanese anime cartoon Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro. Maybe they won't have to watch a commercial for a Sham-WOW, but advertising on the internet is out there, especially those that are tied-in to television commercials.

Second, I would like to point out Shirky's comparison of television-watching with Wikipedia contribution. I understand his point with regards to the TV producer's comment; however, his slant seems to suggest, "Oh, people watching television could be doing so much more with their free time, like contribute to Wikipedia!" Question: how many avid sitcom fans would actually contribute to Wikipedia if they weren't watching television?

So, I've contributed to Wikipedia. And I watch television. Not a lot, but I haven't really watched much in the past five years. Although it's easy to point at television to be this great and terrible SOMA, one can point to the internet as well. There have been many times I have gone online and felt like I wasted quite a bit of time on it. Even Wikipedia, that wonderful source of imperfect knowledge, can suck you in, as it did me when I followed link after link, reading various articles about numerous cheeses. Seriously, I think I spent at least half an hour, likely more, reading about different kinds of cheese. True, I learnt quite a bit about Emmenthaler cheese, but a television show on the Food Network could have informed me sufficiently (although I would have to wait for it to come on... unless I have a magic device called TiVo).

But what would have really informed me about cheese? Going to a cheese shop and asking someone working there about what they sell.

In 2007, I got my Bachelor's degree, and was done with school for the moment (I'm looking to go back next fall). Since then, I deleted my MySpace account, fell in and out of love with Last.fm, deepened my Etsy addiction and got cable television with my roommate. What do I love to do in my idle time? Sure, I go online on my breaks at work, but when at home, I play video games periodically, blog incredibly infrequently, read more often, and bake. For baking edification, I go online for recipes, but I also peruse my obscene collection of cookbooks.

I'm actually on the internet a lot less now that I'm out of school, which makes sense in one way, as I don't have as much research to do now, but I'm also spending less time on social networking websites. In fact, in the past year, I have actually watched more television, but that's because television is available. I watch television maybe an hour or two a day, and I'm picky with what I watch. If nothing appeals to me, I shut the TV off and read instead.

With regards to cognitive surplus and deciding what is worthwhile to spend one's time on, I belive it's entirely subjective. Working on Wikipedia articles can be seen as a contribution to society on one hand, but what if that person should really be working on, say, homework instead? Or, in my case, I'm reading a very interesting book about post-punk music and culture when I should be working on my admissions essay for the Master's program I want to get into. Granted, I'm learning something, but it's not the best use of my time at the moment.

So sure, one can take the stance that going online is better than watching television, but I disagree. Although I love the internet, I recognise it as having equal potential for education and for fettering your life away looking at LOLcats all day. It can be used for good or ill, like television, like gin, like fire, like anything, really. It isn't the medium, it is the operator/viewer/user who is responsible for the quality of time spent.

Further explorations in Web 2.0

In response to the Learn 2.1 lesson, Web 2.0 Continues, I went to the SEOmoz's 2008 Web 2.0 Awards site and puttered around a few websites to get a feel for them.

An honorable mention, I checked out CrazyMenu.com to see what Orlando businesses had their listings and menus up. Well, I guess the website has potential, if you have a dedicated user group who will plug in businesses and menus. But as of now, I prefer Urban Spoon. I gave Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux an "I like it" vote because the place is a great local sandwich shop and cafe, and the owners are super-nice. Clicking on a list for "cheap eats" brought up Udipi Cafe, a place I've been wanting to go to in Longwood for sometime now. I'm just hardly ever in Longwood.

As one of the ones frustrated with Last.fm's update earlier this year (gah, we went from a gorgeous website to something so poorly designed and ill-working... grumble, grumble), I was interested to see if Mog would be a suitable replacement. Sadly, many of the images didn't come up on Internet Explorer (Mozilla Firefox, anyone?), but a happy shard of light was the ability to listen to streamed songs in their entirety, or at least that was the case with one of my most favouritest bands, The Clientele. Have a listen to Rain by The Clientele and let me know what you think.

I don't know if Mog will replace Last.fm for me, as I'm still kind of iffy on the design of the website, but they get props for having The Clientele up for all to listen to.

What, how did Etsy get second place to Threadless? Shenanigans. Etsy is the super-jam, selling all kinds of stuff from all sorts of good people. According to my Etsy account, I've purchased 108 items since March 2006, and I'm currently waiting on a vintage 1950s/60s chiffon nightie-top in baby blue from Etsy seller madecute. This holiday season, I'll be turning to Etsy for unique gifts for the cool people in my life, and you should, too.

Oooh, BBC iPlayer! It's so sleek! So pretty! So... oh, bugger! I can't watch video unless I'm in the UK! Boo. At least I can listen to the radio, and BBC 6's Rock & Indie page looks dead cool. Since I'm on a work computer that doesn't have Real Player (double boo), I'll have to check out some of the audio when I'm at home, but it looks great.

As for the Adventure activity, I'll have to get to that one in a future posting.

Three Out Change

In OCLS Learn 2.1's Chain, Chain, Change lesson, many different points were brought forth relating to the idea of change: change in music marketing, change in releasing new films, change in music forms. We voted for Change earlier this month. Well, most of us, anyway.

And, for the record, Radiohead is brilliant. I was one of those folks who bought the commercial release when it was released in January, but what encouraged me was the digital download I had heard. As a consumer, I like to listen to music before I buy it, but if I like it, I will eventually buy it. Granted, my current list of "have to buy" albums is quite long, but seriously, I do intend to support the artists... eventually... when I have money... someday. But, keep in mind, I'm one of those college kids with school debt, though my debt is over $10,000 more than what was shown in the video.

Anyway, back to the eXplorer topic, regarding the OCLS Mission Statement, I think it summarizes up what the Library does. With the vast collection of popular items (including all the Radiohead releases), classes, services like MAYL and Questline, online links and programs, and the sheer awesomeness of our staff, we provide all the material for a well-learned, well-informed community base.

The trick is to get them to know about it. When I tell people I've just met what I do, most of these new acquaintances are astounded at the Books-by-MAYL program. Some already are aware of it and use the service occasionally. Orlando Weekly in this year's Best of Orlando 2008 called MAYL "Best free service you don't use." Despite the thousands of items we check out in the department every day, there are still people out there who don't know about this program--I bump into them all the time at parties, cafes, hoe-downs and what-have-you.

And if people don't know about this behemoth of a service, what about the other spectacular services we provide for the public?

At the recent Staff Day, our guest speaker, Joan Frye Williams, made a good point in regards to going where the people are. Not just tangible space, but the internet. Having the Library leave comments on blogs, news articles, and Facebook/MySpace pages would increase visibility in the virtual world. Hosting book clubs and library events outside of the library and in local cafes and tea houses could boost awareness in the material world. Williams mentioned going to local farmer's markets, which I thought was a good idea. The OCLS orange bags we currently sell to people to hold their library books in is a great way for our Library to be seen in the community, because people use those bags for all sorts of other things outside of the library: groceries, sleep-over bags for kids, toting stuff to the beach, etc. I think if we had a few different designs, our library users may want to get multiple bags. That's OCLS advertising space!

So yes, I think OCLS does well in achieving the mission statement it sets out for itself, but it could use some help in tooting its own horn about it. Not necessarily go so far as to employ viral marketing, but I think we can devise methods to make Orange County residents aware of our services, and they may be outside of the conventional channels we're used to.

Open Source is the jam

Regarding the Open Source Information lesson, I have been using some Open Source technology, notably Wikipedia and Mozilla Firefox (which ought to be installed in all staff computers, by the way), for years, and I'm a big proponent for all things collective and free. I really found the Imagine 2020 video interesting, especially the Shibuya University concept. The university has an English language page, which is good because my Japanese is only a notch above nonexistant. I intend to investigate more, because I am that type of dork who loves to learn, and Shibuya is the coolest spot on the planet.

On Yahoo! Answers, I asked,"What is the most popular cookie in the United States?" It turns out, I wasn't the only one interested in the cookie preferences of Americans, as someone else has already posed the question. The answers generally list "chocolate chip" or "Oreo," but there is no answer based on any sort of study or fieldwork, sadly. Then again, this is a difficult question, reliant on opinion. An easier question example would be "Where can I buy Meiji products online?" and for that, you have a set answer.

For the record, my favourite cookie probably is the Snickerdoodle, although I also love lemon cookies. And orange cookies. Probably any cookie with a whole lot of butter. I love butter.

Speaking of butter, in Answerbag, I asked, "How is butter better than margarine?" The results were interesting (to see one of the entries, click here), although there were some entries that didn't really deal with the question I had, like the Peanut butter vs Nutella discussion, which, still, wasn't totally irrelevant, as someone interested in butter may also be keen to know more about peanut butter. Or Nutella.

For the final website, Askville (misspelt in the original blog entry), I stuck with the topic of food, naturally, by posing the question,"What spices are often used in Indian cuisine?" Someone asked a reasonably similar question here, and here's a quote from one of the answers:

There’s no one combination of spices used by absolutely every Indian restaurant everywhere, but a lot of what you’re smelling is the combination of turmeric, cardamom, coriander, cumin, and fenugreek. Those are found in nearly every curry powder recipe.

Yes, these websites were rather helpful, although I don't know if I can break myself into using these sites as opposed to running to Wikipedia or Google for life's urgent questions... "What's Montreal like?" "Where can I find Top Pot doughnuts in Seattle?" "How many dollars equal a British pound?" "What the heck ever happened to that guy from The Wonder Years?"

Since joining OCLS over four years ago, I am now a frequent library user and often check out books of non-fiction and memoir, as well as documentary DVDs. I'm currently watching Around the World in 80 Treasures, which is informative, although somewhat laughable because the host is so quintessentially British, especially when he refers to objects as "my treasure!" with a British accent. Well, I think it's funny.

I don't think I've been urged to use information technology differently, given my current position in the library, but books are still a solid source of information, and at times just as arbitrary as the internet or television. If the library were to provide as many sources of information as possible (books, media, internet, classes, seminars, etc), I think it would be beneficial to the evolution of the library and what learning environments are.

As far as Googling myself, I came up with three relevant hits, but nothing that I think is too revealing about myself, aside from my fondness for Jens Lekman, which, in turn, could lead to someone finding about my musical preferences, and possibly what shows I'm keen on going to. Okay, so it's potentially creepy. I think I don't have to worry about creepy stalkers at the moment (normally my stalkers prefer vis-a-vis interaction), I'm probably going to go back and take my name out of a few things to be a bit of a blank slate when plugging in my name on the Googles.

At least until the words "super genius" can appear after my name.

Health and Wellness on the Web

Okay, so I don't have a problem with obiesety, but I would like to be a little bit more active, so I liked the Google Map Pedometer very much. I was able to calculate a few different routes in my neighbourhood for me to walk around once the weather gets a little less hot. Walking is something I'd love to do more of, but the oppressive heat and humidity of our state often leaves me running back indoors where the a/c is. When I was in Seattle last month, I took a great pleasure in walking around because the weather was cool enough for me to putter around without getting too hot, plus I was walking uphill. In fact, it seemed everywhere I wanted to go was uphill...

Other sites in this week's OCLS Learn 2.1 lesson didn't exactly hit the mark with me. I signed up for an account with NutritionData, and when I attempted to plug in my lunch in the search field, a homemade salad with cut pears, well, the listings weren't quite what I wanted. Instead of a plain salad with, you know, lettuce and a mix of other leaves (dandelion, arugula, etc), I wound up with listings from all kinds of fast food places with their salad listings. The only thing homemade that I was able to look for by putting in "salad" was a homemade potato salad. I tried to plug in my dinner last night, vegetable makhani (leftovers from an Indian restaurant), and no results were found.

Finally, I was able to find something with the entry "pear," after scrolling past all sorts of canned options and others I can't conceive ("canned with heavy syrup, sulfered and stewed with added sugar"). A raw pear, which I have in my salad for lunch today, does have a listing. Apparently it is on the tip of the green point on the colourful triangle (ooh!), and according to the website: "This food is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin C, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber." However, "[a] large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars."

I figured I'd do a search for something I know might not be super-good, so I looked up "scones." Unfortunately, they don't have a homemade option for scones; instead, it comes up as Food from Starbucks. Well, since I do make blueberry scones at home, and often for the cafe I bake for, I took a look at the Nutrition Facts for Starbucks' version. I wish there was an ingredients listing along with all this nutritional data, so that way I can further compare it with what I make, since I don't know if Starbucks and I use the same ingredients. Attempts to look on Starbucks.com for ingredient listings were futile, as the two locations I clicked on in the Orlando area gave me a notice that the nutritional information was unavailable for the two stores.

Bugger.

I don't know, I think perhaps my eating style might be too unconventional for NutritionData. It's good for folks who eat out more, but I often eat stuff that's either homemade or from Mom & Pop restaurants that don't have a spot in the NutritionData listing. Or stuff that is utterly sublime, but is often met with weird looks, like my vegetarian take on the Guberburger, a hamburger topped with peanut butter. Seriously, it's good; get a tomato-basil Gardenburger patty topped with peanut butter (non-hydrogenated), and add some basil leaves, crunchy bean sprouts, lettuce or spinach, and a squeeze of lime, and sandwich it between two parts of a Martin's potato roll bun, and you've got yourself something wicked tasty!

All in all, I'm not too worried about my diet, although I would like to increase my B-vitamin intake. Currently, I am taking B-12 supplements perscribed by my regular doctor because we found out earlier this year that I have a deficiency, which is common among vegetarians. That's my main nutritional concern at the moment. As far as my protein and iron levels go, I'm meeting or exceeding my daily quota for those.

Atlhough I would love to take some tai chi or bellydancing classes, I'm a bit on the broke side. Okay, more like I'm over on the broke side, and I'm probably going to be kickin' it there for a while. Oh well. As long as I can keep my B-vitamin levels in good standing, and if I can move to a place that isn't so hot so I can do some walking (or get an air-conditioned bubble suit to walk around in Orlando), I think I'll be in good health, barring any sort of bizarre disease or getting hit by a car or something.

The Cupcake Tins are a Bit Rusty

Not from a lack of baking, but from blogging on this particular blog. It took me a moment to figure out what e-mail account I used, then what my password was.

It was... a trial.

So here it is, Commander Cupcake back on active duty, ready to undertake the Learn 2.1 mission. Pip, pip.