Module 7 Ted Talk Videos

1.      Tim Berners-Lee on the next Web

I agree with Tim Berners-Lee that data is relationships and how important to link data.

A few hours after I watched this talk, I picked up my friend at the union station in Portland, OR. He came back from Eugene, OR which is two hours away from Portland. He attended a barbecue there.

I have been making one thousand origami cranes for my friend who is battling cancer. Thousand origami cranes is a Japanese traditional way to show one’s wish, such as for long life or recovery from illness. My friends in Eugene made a few hundreds cranes too. On the day when I picked up my friend, we talked about how we could gather cranes in one place. They went to the same barbecue as my friend did, so he could bring cranes back to Portland if I asked him. I knew their schedules, however, all the data was not linked in my brain so we haven’t been able to gather cranes yet.

I think this experience is what Berners-Lee wanted to express. I believe data becomes useful information when it has relationships. In other words, if data is not linked, it has much less values than when it is linked.

2.      Pattie Maes: Sixth Sense Technology

I am amazed by all the technologies Pattie Maes presented. This was the most exciting video from TED talk to me.

I believe that these technologies will definitely improve our quality of daily life. It would be very useful for me especially when I buy medicine at a store. If I use that technology, I do not have to look up a dictionary to find out medical terms that I do not know. This would also be useful when people go abroad. There would be no need to look up a dictionary or a map.

I wonder if people could use these technologies where there is no internet access.

3.      Post your thoughts about OhioLINK to your blog.

I have been using the OhioLINK since I enrolled the MLIS program at Kent State University. I think this is very useful especially for those who are online students. I can use public libraries and academic libraries in Oregon, but there are some limitations to access at academic libraries. OhioLINK provides us easy access to information regardless where he or she lives.

Today, I explored it by setting up an environmental scanning strategy for myself. I did not know about such features so it was a good learning experience. I think these are very helpful services so I probably start using them.

4.      a. Gadgets that Changed Everything

I am familiar with all the gadgets except for the Palm Pilot. Every time these gadgets were created, I bought them. I think these gadgets will be on a textbook for elementary schools soon because as the article mentioned, these items changed everything.

b. 21 Things That Became Obsolete This Decade

This was an interesting article. I have some opinions about it.

First, the article says “Getting film developed- Does anyone actually do this anymore?” Yes, my friend who loves photography still does it. She said because she likes the process of developing pictures.

Second, as the article mentions, many people do not have VCRs anymore, instead, they use DVD players. However, many data are recorded on VCRs before DVD became popular. So when I was an archivist, I often used VCRs to watch videotapes. I think VCRs will not become obsolete until everything on videotapes is digitalized.