Scribble

As well as studying the dramatic arts at NIDA with Cate Blanchett, I also have a range of other qualifications under my belt that not many people know about. I once did a degree of Information Management & Systems at Monash University, it was one of the more boring ones - less intense than Quantum Physics, and not as exciting than ancient Archaeology (just to compare it to a few of the others I've done in my time).

So diagramming has always been my thing; the ability to picture things in circles, lines and boxes to make them meaningful. I was always the one in class to come up with the best Data Flow Diagrams and ER Diagrams. Back in those days we used tools like Microsoft Visio, but it seems these days there are online tools you can use as well. Gliffy has fairly extensive flowcharting capabilities, allowing you to do complex things like Network diagrams, UML charts and heaps more.

I'm also the type to have random scribbles of inspirations on whatever scrap of paper or napkin comes to hand; so I was keen to try out http://bubbl.us/ for some mind-mapping. I like that you could just jump straight in and start jotting stuff down without having to sign up and account. I also like the ease of adding, removing, etc without the page ever reloading. Mindmaps, here I come.

RSS

I've had a bloglines acount for quite a long time now. At some stage I ended up with way too many RSS feeds to actually keep up with, and decided to migrate across to Google Reader instead.

The main benefit I find with Google Reader is that my colleages also use it and can share items that they find to be of interest. Like Kanye is always sharing photos of Megan Fox.

Here's a handy tip for those of you who may not already know: you can create 'vanity searches' in Bloglines too - for example, do a search for your blog's URL and then save that search in your feeds. Every time you visit it, you can see a list of all the other blogs linking to or mentioning your blog. Good measure of how popular you are, and of what the blogosphere is saying about you.

Amazing how far technology has come - here's a picture of me researching WW2 history using microfiche reader to look up old newspaper articles about Hitler. Can you even imagine if all that stuff was available via RSS??

Second Life

I was helping my man Max with the mail run this morning, when we got to talking about Second Life. Max is an avid user, he always has a story or two about running a virtual marathon and banking up Linden Dollars for charity. So anyway, I was interested to find out more about it.

I'd never really understood the appeal of Second Life, but I have read from time to time about people becoming real-life millionaires just by selling virtual products on there. On further research, this seems to be the exception and not the rule, with only a small number of entrapraneurs really raking it in off their Second Life income.

The major downfall of Second Life as far as I'm concerned, is that I couldn't immediately find any way to select an avatar that wasn't human. I mean really, humans may have fantasies of being other humans, but if I wanted a fantasy life it would NOT be as a human (no offence Max and keep up the good work).

The irony of Social Networking

I've had lots of emails from you fans asking for my opinions about Social Networking. So here are my humble thoughts.

My Space: I know a girl who has 13,026 MySpace friends that she's never met (it's a true story). So, how are they even friends? The irony of social networking is that for many, it actually prevents them from being social. Quite a few studies have now come out with these findings. Online social networks can actually act as a barrier for us so that we no longer have to go through the trials and tribulations of communicating with people face-to-face. The impact of this isn't very immediate - but will it hinder the social development of younger generations to come? This remains to be seen. The other irony is that, while we do less actual socialising and in turn become more socially isolated, we actually know more than ever about everyone else's lives. We know what they did over the weekend (often quite graphically in someone's random camera snaps); we know when they break up with their boyfriend and we even know what they ate for breakfast. But rather than finding these things out by having a casual chat, we find out by having a sort of voyeuristic view into their lives.

So while I don't think we should rely on social networks as a communicative tool, I do think they are now instrumental in the world of marketing and advertising. Online social networks are a manifestation of the old adage, "It's not what you know, it's WHO you know." They are an intensely interesting study into the effects of word-of-mouth promotion; into personal and corporate branding; and into the importance of business networking. They've also spawned a new breed of fame where anyone and everyone can be something to someone as long as their online presence is strong enough.

MySpace as a social network fell down because it was too easy to spread promotional messages and create expansive networks of people, and it became a hot-bed for spammers as a result. Facebook relies more on a trust relationship between people who have a real-life relationship and therefore are willing to have a mutually beneficial system - a system that will only survive if they stay within the bounds of non-spammy communication.

Niche social networks that bring together people with specific interests are a different kettle of fish again - while general social networks are based around taking your relationships with people you already know out of the real world and into the online world, niche networks can be used in the opposite way. They can be used to meet new people online; people who will be good business contacts, or people who share a passion with you.

Despite my doubts about MySpace and Facebook as long-term social tools, I do use both networks to keep in touch with friends, family, and fans - in particular to keep all my fans up to date with the latest Winston news via my fan pages.

That's it from me for now. Peace out, Winston.

The Winston Times

Due to overwhelming demand from you, my fans, I've setup a weekly newsletter to keep you up to date with all th news.

The first issue details the upcoming State Library Chess Competition and how to enter.

Click here to view the first issue of the Winston Times (and be warned, I am a Chess MASTER).

P.s. The newsletter was created with a service called 'LetterPop' which is ajax-based and pretty easy to use, but seems to have the cheesiest templates going.

Winston in Wiki

If it weren't for wikis, so many things wouldn't be properly documented. Because the people get to pool all of their useless knowledge into topics that traditionally respected sources would never care to pay any attention to. Wikipedia is great when you suddenly need a big list of something - like a list of dystopian films, or a list of unusual deaths; or when you need masses of information on a totally geeky topic like Star Wars or LOLCats.

I have my own wikipedia entry, naturally, being a subject greatly admired by all. What the article fails to tell you though, is how cultured and intelligent the iDog species actually is. You can often find us (me in particular as I'm even more cultured than most) traversing the halls of galleries and museums, travelling the world to brush up our superior language skills, or whipping up culinary delights in our sparkling kitchens.

There are so many wikis out there on so many topics - if Zombie Survival warrants its own wiki, maybe it's time for an iDog wiki too.

Thank goodness for Google Maps

You know, I was sitting in the sunshine on the front steps of the State Library today and I got to thinking about Google. Google have managed to really revolutionise many of the things we do on the Web - much like Steve Jobs and Apple have revolutionised the design world. But while Apple's ability to design is amazing, Google keep things plain and simple - often even ugly. And yet they've made such an impact on the world.

When I actually ponder on the subject, I realise just how often I use Google's services - not just web searching but Google Maps (I have a pretty good sense of direction, but every now and then it comes in handy - you know like when you wake up in some random hotel room after a big night out and realise you have exactly 15 minutes to get into your dinner suit and onto the red carpet at Crown for that important film premiere... yep, I've been in that situation one too many times), and Google Docs (I use it for all of my collaborative song writing efforts - sometimes Rihanna gets a bit pushy with wanting me to fix up her song lyrics though).

I had a go at Google Books too - was hopeful maybe I'd have more luck with 'Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep' but seems Phillip K Dick is still too far in copyright for me to access the whole thing. C'est la vie!

iGoogle for iDogs

iGoogle: the world at my fingertips (or, pawtips rather). I can see everything from the weather, to my latest Facebook updates, to maps and book recommendations. Pretty handy.

Why does everything start with 'i' these days though? It's sort of stealing my identity. Come on google - be original next time.

Do iDogs dream of electric books?

Project Gutenberg is a collaborative project to make books available digitally. Sci-fi doesn't seem to be their forte though - I used the World Book Fair website to try and hunt down 'Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep' by Philip K Dick, but alas my hunt for the book proved more troublesome than Rick Deckard's hunt for escaped androids.

They did have a few of Dick's short stories though, so I got my sci-fi fix for the day. I still like to read actual books better anyway - the physical pages are part of the experience.

A journey of self-discovery

I've never been deeply religious, but lately I've feel a change happening deep in my soul. Johnny Cash visited me in a dream and sang to me about salvation and whipping the devil. He wrote some pretty good songs so I figure I'd better do what he says.

So anyways I was randomly browsing some podcasts when I came across The Ark and it's speaking right to me. Praise the lord.

And for a few other podcast recommendations, some of my other personal favourites are In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg - a great history podcast - and Classic Poetry Aloud which gives a reading of a different classic poem each day.

My man Snoop

I know a lot of you peeps are fans of my man Snoop Dogg. So here's one of his videos that I was executive producer on... The song was also inspired by yours truly, though not many people know it cos we like to keep it real. Those were fun times working on that clip together... boy do I have some stories to tell! Maybe another day though.

Here's an interesting fact for you all tech-heads too... The new iPhone 3GS now has the capability to add videos directly from your iPhone to YouTube. That's right kiddos, be careful of what gets caught on camera because it will be spread across the web quicker than you can say "One Night In Paris". Anyway, in the week after the iPhone 3GS was released, mobile uploads to YouTube went up by 400%.

As if you needed more proof that Apple are changing the world.

The online library

I thought I might have a go at creating a catalogue out of this site, Library Thing. I'm an avid reader, I churn through books like a lawnmower through high grass. I've added a few of my favourites here but I don't think I'll carry on the with the catalogue... I'm not one of those organised librarian types, my life is too busy to worry about cataloguing things.

Image manipulation

Image editing can do all sorts of wonders - whiten teeth, smooth out wrinkles... or you know, like when Kim Kardashian's bikini photos end up miraculously cellulite-free. There's some talented person behind the scenes making all that happen.

I myself rarely need retouching, thankfully I was born with the good genes to always look amazing in photos. I AM a star photo-shopper though, which is a handy skill to have... just in case.

For those of you who aren't quite as talented as I am, there are some really simple photo manipulation tools on the web that you can have some fun with. I had a play with making comic strips and also using the image generator. Check them out.

On a totally unrelated note - here's a sneak preview of my latest cover for Woof magazine. Yep, I won the World's Greatest Dog title again.