A communal blog for ENGL 3177/5177: Web Logs and Wikis
morgan's office
course wiki

 
Simon, instead of buying a pocket calendar, get a time machine. And then let me borrow it. I've got some unfinished business with elementary school bullies to take care of...oh yeah, and an empire based on winning sports bets to build.
posted by Froyd at 11:25 PM

 
Don't worry, Simon. You're not the only one...
posted by Temporary Display Name at 9:53 PM

 
Jeez, can I have one assignment for this class not be late? Just one? I need to buy a pocket calendar or something... -_-
posted by L.P. at 8:41 PM

 
Yep, fashionably late... Well, I'll at least say that to make myself feel better. Enjoy.
posted by Temporary Display Name at 9:55 PM

 
reading reading reading
Ten responses to Navigating in so far. Looking good - and they look interesting, too. I'll be watching for the rest of them and will be commenting over the next few days.

Meanwhile, keep the projects moving forward.
posted by morgan at 12:37 PM

 
The Ultimate Mistake is pressing the preview button twice, turning off the computer, then falling asleep for 12 hours. So, it's technically late, I know, but I got some sleep finally, and I was really tired. Oh well.

Here is my assignment.
posted by a dyke... at 7:40 AM

 
Here it is! All done! :)
posted by Alicia at 11:48 PM

 
oye fricken vey. nuff said. here it is.
posted by April at 11:36 PM

 
Well, I am done. Although Audrey beat me to the bar already... I am sure there will be at least one more Cosmopolitan with my name on it... after all it is a Friday night! Say Good Night Gracie!@
posted by Tammi at 11:03 PM

 
I'm done; I'm done; Cosmopolitan, here I come.
posted by Audrey at 9:46 PM

 
ALaS! I DiDn'T DiE SkiiNg sO I FiNiShEd oN TiMe. DuNsKi. HeRe ShE bE!
posted by Lindsi at 8:37 PM

 
Here is my response.
posted by Oti at 8:17 PM

 
Done Done DONE!
posted by Daphne at 7:13 PM

 
Here is ye olde Responding to Navigating assignment.

Boo yah!
posted by Froyd at 12:15 PM

 
Here is my Navigating assignment. Hopefully it isn't too preachy!

posted by Desiree at 10:11 AM

 
midnight approaches
Just a reminder that RespondingToNavigating is due midnight tonight.

studio tours postponed
We'll do the first studio tours the week we get back from break, the week of March 15. That will give everybody time to move a little further along on their projects. You might have an informal visit to see what others are doing, however. Some interesting stuff is happening. And in some cases, the off-project postings tie into the projects in curious ways... But I'll let you discover how.

Use the coming week to really make a pust on your projects, which leads me to ...

unrequested advice
I've been reviewing all the projects - from this year and last year - and have this advice from the Center for Unrequested Advice

When in doubt, go for short but often. Shorter postings more often - daily - move projects along more quickly than longer postings less often. Both blogging and wiki writing are about spontaneity in writing and commitment to writing. Use the wiki like a notebook and update it every day, even if it's just a note, an idea for a plan, or a sentence. Post to the blog every day, even if it's just a brief observation. It doesn't have to mean much right away. Write every day and it will come to mean. Once you start an update or a posting, you'll often find that you have more to say.

I'm seeking contributions for a new page of UnrequestedAdvice about writing a blog or wiki. [hint]Contributions won't go unrewarded.[/hint]

leap year
Sunday is leap year day. Remember to synchronize your Gregorian calendar with your vernal equinox.
posted by morgan at 6:15 AM

 
mid week reminder
RespondingToNavigating is due Friday, 27 Feb, midnight. The reading is "Navigating the Blog Universe," Chap 3 of We Blog: Publishing Online with Weblogs, by Paul Bausch, Matthew Haughey, Meg Hourihan (We read an article by Hourihan a couple of weeks ago).

One approach to this reading - one I found myself taking as I wrote a response - involves trying things out, following some of the links in the reading, testing the ideas, visiting some sites, looking closely at the way one blogger created an identity in her web design and blog roll, what she mentioned, what she remained quiet on...

There are printed copies of the reading outside my office door (HS 314).

And kudos to Jamie Munt for being first in with the assignment.
posted by morgan at 7:27 AM

 
here's the link to my ("Navigating" assignment. goodnight... I'm extraordinarily tired
posted by Jaime at 10:40 PM

 
Why does the wiki say the assignment is due the 29th, and the daybook say it is due the 27th? I personally like the 29th better, but I really need to know so I can prioritize my time.
posted by a dyke... at 10:14 PM

 
If only I could get my mom to finance more of my uh.. 'research.' Now that.. that would be cool... Ha. Research.. Yes.. that sounds so good.. Why didn't I think of that before? Genius!
posted by Temporary Display Name at 10:41 PM

 
women, men, movies, kittens, and infixes

Projects are moving along nicely. As of this Saturday morning, I saw

- Mary is writing about women, specifically the modern Kenyan woman. And she's and linking to

- Barb's entry discussing women's art as a celebration of fertility.

- Hunter is getting Latro Latronis started. His blog is "aimed at illuminating an alternative view of masculinity in modern western society."

- Daphne has thoughts about people using weblogs for dating. Her project is looking at the use and future of blogging, so we're all helping her out.

- Sean is looking for comments on his latest posting for his senior project. Stop in and help out.

And people are doing things, too, not just writing about it.

- Jamie M is watching Philadelphia and talking about tear jerkers. I had a look at her list of Movies I like, to get an idea of what she'll be reviewing for her project. I've seen maybe a third of her list, but I have seen "21. Ma and Pa Kettle."

- On a related tack, Tammi has started her MovieReviewsWiki. In good WikiNature manner, she's asking for contributions , too.

- Jamie L is busy beading. But in the Web Course, she's also reworked her syllabus for her Jingle Dress Making class for the web.

- Erin is doing research for her blog. She's going to the Evanescence concert.

- Sara and Alicia are going to yoga and drinking white tea and have sketched out the nodes on the yoga wiki.

- Wiki projects can take a little longer to get started than blogs because they need some designing and planning. So Audrey is seriously thinking about her Gothic Garden wiki, and

- April is getting a start on Ocean Wiki. She's been brainstorming some ways of organizing it - but the beauty of a wiki is that you can organize it in multiple ways. Start with the node names, get some base content in, then see what categories develop. It's like categorizing your CDs. It's an information architecture problem that writers will be called on to address when they write for the web.

- And, finally, Simon ("Life of a Student") is discussing infixes, cuteness, and Erin's mention of death as gothic.

I also looked thorough the archives of last year, and the projects are ahead of where they were in 2003.

Now, I don't know what this collection of projects means, but it makes for some interesting reading and engaged learning. Applaud yourselves.
posted by morgan at 11:52 AM

 
Assignment: Responding to Navigating the Blog Universe
As promised, the assignment for next Friday is posted on the wiki: Responding to "Navigating the Blog Universe." The article deals with identity and community on the Web - something that's come up a couple of times in passing.

Your responses are due next Friday, Feb 27, midnight, but don't let that stop you from starting it - even finishing it - earlier. You'll write it on the wiki, then post an announcement here on the Daybook with a link to it on the wiki.

The following week (the week before spring break) you'll be entertaining visitors looking in on your projects, so be sure to keep up with your calendar.

In the next couple of days, I'll post a summary of what I've been seeing going on in the projects. (And I just bet you're excited about that.)

Have a good weekend.
posted by morgan at 1:04 PM

 
I don't have anything to say; I'm just sick of Sean's words topping the page.
posted by Audrey at 11:20 PM

 
so you're asking us to do what we do usually?
posted by Froyd at 11:27 PM

 
ignore this. it's a test from a blogging api that I'm trying out
posted by morgan at 6:31 PM

 
WriteTheWeb
So, while I'm waiting for the projects to pick up and develop (tick tick tick), I'm reading WriteTheWeb, a blog on blogging:

a community news site dedicated to encouraging the development of the read/write web.

Some of the articles focus on technical stuff, but the site also keeps up with conferences and events concerning blogging, much of it tuned to writers. - like a Labour MP who is blogging, and a game run on a blog/wiki combination called blognomic). (A nomic is a game in which a move starts by changing the rules of the game. Hours of fun.)

Have a look at the topics list on the right sidebar of the main page to see what they have.
posted by morgan at 5:36 PM

 
WikiPeople: Check your BSU Email
Those of you using a wiki for your project: If you haven't done so yet, check your BSU email for the address and the password for the wiki.

Try it out - create a couple of pages - and let me know if you run into problems. A tip: You don't need to start every page with a /. That's only necessary on the course wiki, when you hang a page off your WikiName page.


posted by morgan at 7:37 AM

 
A woman's voice, Mike- not a women's voice. Thanks.
posted by Barb at 5:53 PM

 
Mike, My new blog address is barbsim.blogspot.com.
posted by Barb at 1:23 PM

 
More projects starting! Don't be left behind!
More projects have started, and I'm adding them to the project blogroll as they come in.

If your project doesn't appear under the project lists, post a message here by Sunday evening. If you start a new blog for the project, link to it so I can add it to the list. If you're not starting a new blog for the project, say so and I'll move your current blog to the project list.
posted by morgan at 11:34 AM

 
stupid email net connection out here....HARUMPH HARUMPH HARUMPH!!!

the new blog address for the project will be www.froyd.net/projectblog/
but it isn't ready yet, so that is why there is no active link.
posted by Froyd at 12:04 PM

 
(bang)
The starting gun has been fired. Start your projects.

Deadline for revisions of project proposal is Friday morning. email me with the blog address if you're starting a new blog. I'll update the blogroll with project blogs and wikis Friday.

posted by morgan at 7:42 AM

 
Erin, click here. You are the greatest.
posted by Lindsi at 3:35 PM

 
The link to our blog for The Projet is http://yogawiki.blogspot.com/. Anyone interested can check here for updates.
posted by a dyke... at 10:34 PM

 
I deleted the link to my project proposal as requested and have used Sara's. You can see the change when you go from my wiki to the writing for class link.
posted by Alicia at 8:29 PM

 
Fame, Fortune, Announcements....
Just so you know where these projects can lead -

Ayleen Lindahl, Renee Loud and Stacey Steinkopf, students in the English Department at BSU, will be presenting at the Great Plains Alliance for Computers and Writing Conference this April. Their panel, titled "That Course in Blogs and Wikis," is based on projects they undertook in the Weblogs and Wikis course in spring, 2003, and focuses on how keeping blogs allowed them to redefine borders in writing, research, and professional work.

The conference will be held at NDSU in Fargo, April 23 and 24. The Web site for the conference is being updated here. Students are invited to attend the two-day conference for $10.00. See the web site or email M C Morgan for a Registration form.

The presenters maintain blogs at

• Ayleen's College Life
  
• Walk Away Renee
  
• Planning, Acting, Reflecting, Stacy Stienkopf
  

Congrats to the presenters.

posted by morgan at 7:42 PM

 
Good question Erin.

I keep waiting for Dr. Morgan to fire a starting pistol or something equally significant to signal the beginning of our projects.
posted by Tammi at 6:10 PM

 
Have we started yet?

I'm glad you guys (Ok, well, Erin, anyway) are anxious to get started on your projects. I've started to review the projects on the wiki, and if I have concerns, I've left you a note on your proposal page. If it says approved, make any small revisions to the proposal I've asked for and get started whenever you wish.

If I've requested revisions on your proposal before approval, make the changes and let me know when you have so I can check in again. Project proposals - just like grants - can be tricky to work with the first time thorough, but revising them saves you from hours of problems so you know where you're going from the first.

If you create a new blog for your project, let me know the address so I can link it into the blogroll. If you need a wiki, I'll set one up for you Wednesday or Thursday. Don't start your project on the course wiki: I'll make you a brand new one.

Good presentations today. I'm going to spend a couple of hours studying your pages, but they're pretty rewarding. Nice work.

posted by morgan at 6:06 PM

 
Have we started yet?

I'm glad you guys (Ok, well, Erin, anyway) are anxious to get started on your projects. I've started to review the projects on the wiki, and if I have concerns, I've left you a note on your proposal page. If it says approved, make any small revisions to the proposal I've asked for and get started whenever you wish.

If I've requested revisions on your proposal before approval, make the changes and let me know when you have so I can check in again. Project proposals - just like grants - can be tricky to work with the first time thorough, but revising them saves you from hours of problems so you know where you're going from the first.

If you create a new blog for your project, let me know the address so I can link it into the blogroll. If you need a wiki, I'll set one up for you Wednesday or Thursday. Don't start your project on the course wiki: I'll make you a brand new one.

Good presentations today. I'm going to need to spend a couple of hours studying your pages, but they're pretty rewarding. Nice work.

posted by morgan at 6:06 PM

 
So have our projects officially started yet?
posted by Temporary Display Name at 5:58 PM

 
here is my project proposal.
posted by Oti at 12:09 PM

 
Here it is.

posted by Desiree at 9:55 AM

 
I'm tired, but it's done. Read if you have insomnia.
posted by April at 8:18 AM

 
Yoga Twin II's propsal complete: You can find it here. :)
posted by Alicia at 12:17 AM

 
I seem to remeber Dr. Morgan saying something about posting whenever you finalized your proposal. Well, mine's done (for now), and it is here .

Long live the Yoga Twins!!!!
posted by a dyke... at 12:09 AM

 
The Winer Presentation
I just checked in on how things are going with The Winer Collection assignment. Looks to me like GroupA and GroupB are going great guns with this - not only in how much they're digging into the problem but how much they're bringing to the surface by the exchange. All the groups seem to have gotten a good start on Friday, leaving plenty of room to develop the group ideas further.

I'm really looking forward to this -
posted by morgan at 2:56 PM

 
Wiki on your desktop
If you're interested in using your own local wiki, there's one available for the Mac as VoodooPad. The publisher has a free 15-node trial, and a free light version. It's not on the Web, but you can create your own local wikiwebs and link out to other wikis and web sites.

For your projects, I'll provide you with a Wiki of Your Own on the Web.
posted by morgan at 5:50 PM

 
Prepare!
Friday, I'll address questions about the project proposal, then let you work in groups to define and start a wiki presentation on the four readings: The Winer Collection. You'll also be adding to your wiki presentation over the weekend to present on Monday.

So, prepare, and be there. We have only 3 more meetings before the projects start.

I'll also be responding to responses on Blood and Bernstein more this weekend.

posted by morgan at 5:35 PM

 
I'm fairly certain that the extra handouts will be in Morgan's office box.
posted by Audrey at 9:53 AM

 
Free Writing! and the Economy of the Web

The economy of the Web makes a lot of writing available openly and without overt charge - things like the WikiPedia, for instance. For you, WikiPedia can become a place where you can your professional writing teeth: gain some reputation as a writer even while you are studying. You each have areas of expertise that open the door to contribute to WikiPedia.

In the same vein and with the same philosophy as WikiPedia, faculty at MIT make their course material available online at MIT OpenCourseWare. You might want to have a look at what's available - to you as a student, and to me as a professor.

BSU is not so, um, ahead in the game. While a lot of our faculty have course materials on line, the materials are hidden behind passwords on WebCT. The idea is that only those who pay should have access to course materials.

Fair enough, I guess. After all, we can just go to MIT's site to find what we're looking for. But in keeping things under lock and key, we miss out on, for instance, being blogged as Sara sparked by a woman living by the sea in Dorset.

The economy of the Web, so they say, is an economy of attention. To get it, you gotta give it. Keep giving it.

posted by morgan at 8:22 AM

 
Gratuitous Mac Destruction!
I thought some people in the class might appreciate this.
posted by L.P. at 12:38 AM

 
You guys missed handouts about the project. If I remember right Morgan said that you should get them before friday... Am I remembering right? anyone? Also, the project proposal is due Monday the 9th in class. "No extensions." Hope that helps.
posted by April at 10:35 PM

 
Someone that I blogged blogged ALL of us!!!!! Go Look!!!!
Me and Ophelia

We're International Now!!!
posted by a dyke... at 5:06 PM

 
Woohoo! Relieving, is it not? I hate computer problems. I have no idea why I even work here.

:)

Have a fantastic day!
posted by Lindsi at 12:48 PM

 
Thanks Lindsi, Yes, my email works perfect now. Thanks so much.
posted by Barb at 12:33 PM

 
Barb: Did you see my post for you?
Here it is if you missed it. It's about your e-mail.
posted by Lindsi at 12:27 PM

 
And me?
posted by Lindsi at 12:26 PM

 
So does anyone want to be a dear and tell me what I missed in class today?
posted by Temporary Display Name at 12:09 PM

 
jouto matte! Its not late! Nobody said it was late!


"*head hurts/eyes are watery/nose is stuffed/can't get warm*"
Yeap, that sounds like it alright. I had *headhurts/eyeswatering/nosestuffed/nasal drainage causes sore throat from hell/hacking/coughing/sneezing/hot-cold flashes accompanied by nausea/loss of appitite*. The loss of appitite worried me the most. If I don't eat enough, I could blow away in a strong wind!

I just hope you don't get the hot/cold flashes. Those were pure hell. "I feel so much better to...day... ::wretch:: or not!"

(Bogus chemical formula) Sudafed + IBprofenX2 + (I think) Chloresceptic + Super B Complex Vitamin + One A Day(/Bogus chemical formula) worked pretty well, though.
posted by L.P. at 12:15 PM

 
Dr. Morgan-
Sorry about its tardiness, but this weekend (and beginning of the week) was... -sigh- I really can't explain it any more than that right now... Thanks for your patience, though!
posted by Alicia at 11:05 AM

 
sorry.

You know how whiney a sick person can get... just had to blame someone... (hopefully there are no hard feelings Simon *sheepish grin*)
posted by Tammi at 10:44 AM

 
Thanks Simon!...

Geez, the next time you sneeze all over the class blog could you at least cover the screen... I think I am catching your cold.

*head hurts/eyes are watery/nose is stuffed/can't get warm*


posted by Tammi at 10:41 AM

 
B and B
Just to let you know, I've been reading the B meets B responses this morning. There is quite a range of work. If you get the time, you might look in on a few: Visit the wiki page of the response, go into edit mode, and leave some comments for the writer at the bottom of the page. (As you'll see tomorrow, wikis open themselves to this kind of ThreadMode commentary.)
posted by morgan at 10:38 AM

 
On a completely unrelated note: Barb, your e-mail password was reset to your Tech ID number. This is for your student e-mail account, Simu1Bar, Barbara.Simurovich@st.bemidjistate.edu. If that's not the address you wanted it reset for, we're gonna have to talk some more because our department was a bit confused. You, for some reason, aren't in our computer system as a GA...so we did it for the student account.

I hope that's what you wanted, and if not, let me know and we'll see what else we can get figured out!

Have a fantastic day, everyone!

Lindsi

posted by Lindsi at 10:21 AM

 
check the former post made by me.
posted by Froyd at 8:05 AM

 
Did that sound curt? What I meant to say was that I can edit past posts on my blog but not the class blog.
posted by Audrey at 10:48 PM

 
Ah! Whats this Bernstein Meets Blood thing?! How come my image tags don't work in the wiki?! Why can't I shake this stupid cold?!!

GAH!!! DOUSHITE?! (Imagine me running headlong in to a wall to get the full effect.)
posted by L.P. at 10:39 PM

 
Okay Sean, then edit a past post for this course blog.
posted by Audrey at 10:33 PM

 
I forgot to post a link for my essay.....I'm I dead?

I promise I finished it before 4:30pm. I know because I left for work at 4:30pm. And I just got home.....

Oops?
posted by a dyke... at 9:54 PM

 
ummm...I can still edit MY posts, as seen here audrey. before, just the part about editing my posts. Now, 's the part about me replying to the part about you not being able to edit your posts.

Anyways...you should still be able to edit your entries on the class blog.
posted by Froyd at 9:46 PM

 
We can't edit our past posts anymore??? Is there a particular reason for this? I feel a...loss...of...control....
posted by Audrey at 8:44 PM

 
So... do I get extra credit for inspiring my little sister to start a blog? :)
posted by Alicia at 7:37 PM

 
Meeting went later than expected. I know, excuses excuses.
clickclickclickclickclickclickclick
posted by Lindsi at 6:26 PM

 
Yeah, so I'm twenty minutes late. Here it is.
posted by Froyd at 6:24 PM

 
It was not late.
posted by Audrey at 6:23 PM

 
For what it's worth...
posted by Audrey at 6:09 PM

 
Cutting the link...
posted by Tammi at 5:56 PM

 
Doin' a Dance Cuz I'm Done!
posted by Daphne at 5:53 PM

 
Here is my review.
posted by Desiree at 5:31 PM

 
Here is my assignment.
posted by Temporary Display Name at 4:48 PM

 
After losing my first draft of the assignment, I completed this one. Read me.
posted by Barb at 4:21 PM

 
It is officially 5:57 and I have just finished. Yeah, yeah, I know. I procrastinated. Bernstein vs. Blood is done and that's all I'm really worried about.
posted by April at 4:15 PM

 
Please view my assignment
posted by Oti at 4:01 PM

 
Have a laugh.
posted by Renee at 5:12 PM

 
[lazy] Sunday afternoon

Listening to Let's Push Things Forward by The Streets

I spent a couple of hours reading class blogs (as it looks like many of you have). The network of cross linking is becoming denser, more tightly interwoven. The external connections are getting more entangled, too. I'm seeing some linking from class blogs to relatively new external blogs (Desiree's and Erin's are just two). Are these colleagues? More and more, bloggers from outside the class are getting linked into the class. (I'm reluctant to post links to the specific blogs here. I'll talk about this in class tomorrow.)

Tammi noticed that "Finally! We are above zero again! WEEE!", and Audrey had tea and cut a link to Jeremy's Weblog, a Harvard Law student who's starting spring semester tomorrow.

What's impressive is what everyone's doing on their blogs. The postings are changing, becoming more varied, more intense, more immediate -

Listening to Bring Me To Life from the album Fallen by Evanescence

- less stilted and self-conscious than they were at first, more self-assured, more deft. I suspect that you're adapting your usual writing processes to the new writing space.

Listening to Maybe Tommorrow by Stereophonics

You're ready to start proposing projects (Wednesday). Monday, we'll tour wikis, talk about 'pedias, wikis as personal notebooks....

Listening to I Feel Better Than James Brown from the album Are You Okay? by Was (Not Was)
posted by morgan at 4:33 PM

 
Erin
(I am repeating the title of this post because the last time I posted the title portion didn't publish... so if that problem has been corrected and this is a redundant title.. sorry).

I love the new look on your blog. You have done a great job of using your design to express who you are and you show great artistic intuition. I love your site.
posted by Tammi at 1:20 PM

 
I WILL NOT BOW TO YOUR DEMANDS!!! However, bribes work very well.
posted by Froyd at 11:45 AM