thomascwaters.com

Here is a list of my favorite tech things from 2008.

 Twitter

twitter.com

I don’t remember when I started to use Twitter, but I have been hooked from the very beginning, and it remains a primary way I interact on the web.  I first saw mention about Twitter, on a Second Life listserve.  I had also developed a program at work, where every month, members of my team spent 1/2 day exploring or “playing” with anything they wanted, and then reported on what they did and how it might impact what they did at work.  We called these sessions, “Look Ahead” because often what a person chose to explore was something new.  So, I decided to use Twitter as my Look Ahead project. I’ve blogged before about my use of Twitter, so I won’t say too much more here. Rohit Bhargava has written that there are 5 steps of Twitter acceptance. I probably spent most of the year at 2 or 3, and over the past few months, I think I’m more in the 4 and moving towards 5 area. I also think Twitter is going to keep growing, and I’m looking forward to being involved in it as a community.

Roomba

There are a few gadgets in this list, and the first of them that I bought was a Roomba, a robot vacuum cleaner, and I totally love it! With a big white dog in the house, there is almost always fur everywhere- even during the times of year that she isn’t shedding! So, early last Spring I was at Target, and saw the Roomba on the shelf.  I thought it might make my life easier, so I decided to give it a try. And shortly afterwards, I bought a second one- one for my first floor with the original on the second floor. The newer one came with a base station.  I was looking forward to having it vacuum on schedule and return itself to be recharged.  That hasn’tworked out perfectly, but still all in all, this was a gadget that has saved me time, and kept my floors cleaner!

 iPod Touch

My friends know me as a person who struggles with delayed gratification.  Generally, when I decide I want something, I want it now. But when Apple released the first iPhone, I knew I would be waiting until the next generation phone so that it would do seamless integration with the email at work. My friends laughed.  I would never wait that long! But I did! A few months before the release however, I was really struggling, and so I decided to get an iPod Touch as a way to test the keyboard, and stuff. To see if I was going to really want an iPhone. And it worked.  The Touch fed the urge I was feeling, and gave me some experience with the touchpad. 

I still love and use my touch a lot.  It is the iPod I use in the car for music, and use it at work for email, and stuff if I’m going to be in a part of the building where there isn’t much phone signal.

iPhone

But the gadget I love even more than my Touch is my iPhone!  I am one of those Apple snobs, and so on the one hand, I had no doubt that I would love it, but I had a TREO 650, and it seemed to meet all of my needs.  Wasn’t sure what more I would want.  But I have never looked back.  The iPhone is truly an amazing thing.  I use it all day, everyday, in ways I never would have thought to use my TREO.  The apps available for it, rock! 

Facebook

Facebook was not new in 2008, and not even new for me.  I first signed onto Facebook in 2006 to see how it was being used by college students.  Was there a way that the School of Pharmacy, my employer should be taking advantage of Facebook? While it looked interesting, too many other things took priority, and I didn’t login again until this past year. Partly because of my Twitter experience, I was ready to be more involved in an online community, and Facebook has become a really cool place for me.

 Pittsburgh PodCamp

Podcamp Pittsburgh was a real turning point for me this past year.  That I have this blog grew out of Podcamp.  That I am again producing a podcast, was encouraged by PodCamp!  I can’t say enough positive things about it.  The un-conference format rocks, but my guess is, it is really the people involved who make it, so I’m thankful Pittsburgh can bring such a community together and create such an event.

Tubu.net and WordPress

At PodCamp, I was talking to Chris Brogan about my podcast, and asking if I should be blogging in addition to it, and how should I accomplish that, and he introduced me to Andy Quayle from Tubu.net.  Prior, I was blogging and posting my podcasts on a .Mac account, which is super easy, but I didn’t think I was being indexed well.  Tubu.net has basic WordPress packages that are extremely affordable, and so I decided to go ahead and jumpstart my return to podscasting with WordPress blogs- one for me personally, thomascwaters.com, and one for my podcast, qlatb.com.  Andy is tremendous.  I’d encourage anyone who ever thought about a blog, to give Tubu.net a try.

I had already been using a blog at work a bit (see below), but was new to WordPress.  WP provides a very comprehensive application within which to build your blog.  Unlike Apple’s iWeb, I can add to my blog, anytime via a web page (or an iPhone app). This increases my blogging tremendously over what I would be doing if it was just iWeb/.Mac.

Second Life

I started playing in Second Life for work and I think it is a really cool platform.  It hasn’t stayed as high on my priority list as I wish, and so I hope in 2009 to remedy that. but SL showed me that the future is so much more than words, pictures and links. If you are bumping around SL, look me up- Caleb Spad.

OS X Server Wikis and Blogs

 

OS X Server

At work, we use Apple’s OS X Server for internet server, file server and a bunch of other services.  I have a beautiful rack of mostly Xserves, and it is amazing. I began to use the built-in Wiki and blog server quite soon after 10.5 was released, and I expec t that many static areas of the school’s website will be replaced with wiki or blog served pages this coming year. No server is easier to set up, manage and use than OS X Server.

 

Scrubbing Bubbles Shower Cleaner

Shower Cleaner

This is my last gadget of the list, and the least advanced from a technology standpoint.  But as with any technology- always use the least tech that is right for the task.  This thing keeps my shower cleaner than it has ever been before, and that is a very good thing.

 

The ID Project podcast

I have a few favorite podcasts, but none mean as much to me as Ethan Nichtern and the ID Project podcast.  A number of years ago, I got interested in meditation and Buddhism, and then about 2 years ago, when my partner and I separated, I jumped into these practices with both feet.  In Buddhism, I found a philosophical world, and a spiritual practice that didn’t negate my Christian past, but filled in the cracks that have for me, kept Christianity for really being useful. I began to sit (meditate) with a local group, but it is the ID Project that feels like a true sangha to me.

Google Reader

I just began to use Google Reader in the past 2 months, and it has totally changed the way I deal with the web and information. I am following blogs more than ever before, and I wonder how did I ever get along without it?