Review: World Wide Mind: The Coming Integration of Humanity, Machines, and the Internet


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World Wide Mind: The Coming Integration of Humanity, Machines, and the Internet by Michael Chorost is published by Free Press (2011).

The title of this book is a good summary of what it’s about. It’s not about web design or web education, it’s about how the human brain could connect with other human minds through the Internet.

Chorost describes the book as a thought experiment about things that are conceptually plausible, though not yet in practice. He gives many examples of how his ideas about the future are based in technology that is already in use. There are chapters on the technology that is used to detect brain activity, chapters on nanowires and optogenetics – both mechanisms that can read and write brain activity, chapters on communications protocols for sending perceptions and memories from one brain to another, chapters on examples of what might result from linking humans to the Internet, and chapters on a possible future collective mind. The writing style is accessible and clear. In an age when people talk about neural pathways over the dinner table, the science discussions in the book are open and written for the average informed person.

Woven in with all this science reporting and speculation, is a personal narrative about Chorost’s already wired brain – he has chochlear implants. He also uses stories about his personal life and relationships to introduce concepts about how the human mind works. The book is a surprisingly easy read.

Some of Chorost’s examples are part of pop culture. He talks about The Matrix and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, for example. He doesn’t mention Dollhouse, but I think it contains the best example of hive mind as he describes it. I don’t mean the plot line in Dollhouse where new personalities are injected into people electronically and they can suddenly be doctors or kick boxing experts. Chorost’s says that brains can’t learn that way. But there is a particular episode of Dollhouse where the character Victor is linked to a group of soldiers, who all act with awareness of what the other soldiers are doing. Yet Victor can use his own will and thinking, even while being aware of what the others he’s linked to are doing and thinking.

That Dollhouse episode is an example of Chorost’s vision of the collective awareness that would come with linking the human brain to the Internet: an awareness, a perception, but not an abandonment of one’s own thinking, one’s own self. He thinks this would be a good thing.

The ways of making that a reality involve wiring the brain with tiny wires and/or devices, or possibly using genetically modified genes that are triggered into action with light (optogenetics). The part of the process that he accepts without comment is that people would be willing to step forward and allow these things to be done to their brains. That seems like a pretty big sticking point to me.

The book has notes, a bibliography, and an index for those who want to explore in depth.

Summary: Theoretical and speculative, but fascinating.

A review by Virginia DeBolt of World Wide Mind (rating: 3 stars)

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USA Student Internet Guide

For the modern American college student, having easy access to the Internet is a necessity for both your studies and social activities. However, many American students live off campus where a university computer network is not readily available. Therefore, acquiring Internet access from a service provider is crucial. Here are some options:

Types of Internet Service

Satellite

This type of service is pretty straightforward. Your Internet service is provided from a signal that’s sent via satellite. Satellite tends to be just as reliable as DSL or Cable, with the exception of inclement weather. However, phone lines and cable lines are not found everywhere but satellite can be set in any location.

Dial-Up

For those who are willing to wait a couple of minutes for the internet to load, don’t use the phone line often, or tend to use the internet more on campus, then having a dial-up service is useful for the convenience of having internet at a lower cost than its satellite, cable, or DSL counterparts. Internet Service requires a phone line and an Ethernet cord. However, when one uses dial up to access the Internet your phone line will be disabled unless your housing has multiple phone lines.

DSL

DSL also uses phone lines like dial-up for internet access but unlike the latter; having the additional phone service is not required. However its availability is not as widespread like other Internet providers. However, when this type of service is available, the speed is comparable to its satellite and cable counterparts.

Cable

This type of Internet service uses the cable lines that are installed underground and within the walls of your housing. If you have a TV, you can opt for a cable-internet package, which can be less expensive than buying the services separately. Very common and its reliability is on par with its DSL and Satellite counterparts.

Speed vs. Cost Analysis

High Speed Internet access options for American students are many. If you are a student who likes to open multiple browser windows or use multimedia often, a higher bandwidth speed would be beneficial. However, having a higher Internet speed will also mean a higher bill at the end of the month. Also, if you are living with roommates, having Internet access with a higher bandwidth might be a necessity.

However, living with some roommates will keep the costs down and within budget, even with a higher bandwidth speed. It is a possibility that your college or university might have some information on what Internet service provider previous students favored and if certain providers provide discounts for students at your institution.

About the author: Firespin Jay is a Tech and Eco writer and enthusiast also enjoys chucking big fiery balls around attached to chains. Come and converse with me on my broadband twitter page @FirespinJay chat soon.

2010 Tech Trends: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Headed

2010 was a fascinating and fast-paced year for tech. Some trends that have been around for a while reached the tipping point this year, and some new trends are emerging that will dominate 2011.

eBooks and eBook readers

The price for an eBook reader dropped significantly this year. The number of device choices expanded. And the number of books available in that format grew and grew and grew.

Anyone who has the capability to buy an eBook instead of a printed copy is choosing that as the preferred option. There are several reasons for this, among them lower price, instant delivery, and lightweight portability for a reader’s entire library.

I see the eBook market continuing to expand as more and more users turn to digital delivery for all kinds of reading material.

Internet TV

This trend hit hard this year, and I think it’s going to continue to grow. Players like Apple TV, Google TV, Netflix and others have gone from interesting outliers to mainstream. Getting TV shows and movies from what used to be standard sources like cable and satellite subscriptions may become a phenomena of the dusty past. You can stream movies from Netflix to your iPhone!

Of course, you still need a broadband internet connection to your home to use gadgets like an Apple TV, but as Just The Right Things points out, it’s a gadget the whole family can love.

HTML5

HTML5

HTML is the code that is used to markup web page content into headings and paragraphs and lists and such. A lot of geeky drama went into getting HTML5 to the point where it is now – which is a still incomplete set of specs for creating web content. This year, some big players started investing time and development cycles into using HTML5 and making it work on the web. Apple announced it won’t use Flash on the iPad – which translates into using HTML5 video elements instead.

That’s a big ouchie for Adobe, the maker of Flash.

Google announced it supports HTML5 and posted some cool demos at HTML5Rocks. High traffic websites got retuned to run HTML5 with lots of hoopla around the changes. Most browsers are implementing support for HTML5 in at least some ways. Tech bloggers, like myself, are talking about HTML5 daily. HTML5 is important to developers for mobile and mobile apps, too. In spite of the fact that it’s still changing and isn’t going to be an “official” spec for quite a while, HTML5 is going to be rocking the tech world for quite a while.

Facebook: Too Big to Fail?

In spite of all its flaws and all its privacy fails, Facebook now has over half a billion users. It expands and expands like some feature-eating swamp thing that will eventually envelop the entire planet.

Everything that could be considered social media – chat, email, multi-player games, status updates, blogging, file sharing, location based features, photo sharing – is part of Facebook. As soon as a new idea for social networking pops up, Facebook adds it to its feature set.

It’s. Just. Huge.

It’s even a movie. See reviews on Women and Hollywood, Gender Across Borders, and Tennessee Guerilla Women.

Here’s my prediction: for the next year, at least, Facebook is going to continue to grow.

Cloud Computing

Gmail, Flickr, Google Docs, Delicious, Dropbox, Blogspot, WordPress.com – your data, your work, your backups – but not on your hard drive. That’s the cloud, baby. Resources, software, and information somewhere out there in Internetland and separate from your computer. Accessible from any computer or mobile device. You and your information are now device and location independent. What could be more useful in today’s world? Not much, which is why the trend is growing.

Grabbing for Groupon

The localized discount coupon service Groupon exploded this year. Everybody wants to save money and the local savings deals from Groupon are often over 50% off on things like restaurant meals and services. Groupon deals sizzle like flies to honey, like moths to a flame – big savings entices.

Groupon got so big, Google is trying to buy it for $6 billion. Groupon said no, at least for the moment. Whether Groupon stays independent or gets swallowed up by something bigger, services like this are going to grow in the next year.

Mobile apps: smart phones and tablet computing

Smart phone adoption shows no sign of slowing down. It’s penetrating every corner of the globe. In some countries, there are more mobile devices than people. Phones with apps continue to get hotter and hotter everywhere you look.

Tablets don’t make phone calls, but they run software and are eBook readers. The portability and connectivity offered by tablets achieves many of the same benefits as users get from smart phones, only with a bigger screen. Perfect for games and watching video.

Having the Internet in your pocket with a device running mobile apps is a trend that is not slowing in the next year.

What trends do you see that I overlooked? Where do you think we’re headed with tech?

Cross-posted at BlogHer in a slightly different version.

Guest Post: The Essential Guide To Effective Online Press Release Marketing

About the guest blogger: This post is by Lauren Horn, Digital PR Specialist at ProspectMX.

With a majority of research being performed online, several high ranking search engines play a primary role in delivering news in a timely and efficient manner. Since the internet is such a valuable resource, not only are customers searching online, but journalists and new the media (bloggers and just about everyone that touches a keyboard) are as well.

Gone are the days of hardcopy press kits and bulk mailings. In 2011, we will start to see the greater effect of internet marketing and the role of social media. For instance, it was debated from the 2010 VMA’s this September that a tweet may replace a news release, or at least for celebrity entertainment news. However, the press release will continue to live on as it still serves as the primary source for media news, Facebook Notes, Twitter, and blog feeds.

The format of an online news release is written in the same general format as a traditional press release, but usually contains anchor text, or clickable words (keywords), to the site that is being promoted. The overall format of an online press release is typically a one-page document consisting of about 400-600 words.

To get the most of out of press release marketing, the combination of optimizing content, utilization of distribution services, creating an eBlast campaign, and engaging in social media outlets are critical elements for the success.

Optimization of content

The root of many failures beginning with online press release marketing is that many press releases lack content that emphasizes relevant and relatable keywords. Optimization of content is vital, helping to provide greater web visibility, increase in traffic and higher rankings. Much like SEO and PPC campaigns for website enhancements, there is a process for determining which keywords are of value. Once you know which keyword silos you want to put in place, the solution is to optimize the press content. To do so, imbed no more than one or two keywords within the introductory paragraph of the release for greater visibility.

Distribution through online outlets

Once the content of the news release is optimized and keyword silos are placed strategically, pinpointing useful distribution outlets and properly submitting the press release to online newswire services is a must. When done correctly, the links contained in the press release will serve as anchor text links helping to dramatically increase online market visibility, press coverage, generation of leads, and serve as driver for sales revenues.  When a major site picks up a release, it’s granted immediate creditability with worldwide recognition. Also, if the release is redistributed, often by other news sources on different sites, the value of the press content is even greater.

Editors, bloggers and other media enthusiasts with an interest in news get email alerts when press releases are submitted in categories they subscribe to. In doing so, allows the media sources to review the content online and determine which ones are relevant to their interest. The best, most pertinent topics covered are then published on their sites, displaying the full release, news story or a blog post. This means more effective SEO link building as well as even greater publicity.

For further reference, a few newswire distribution services include the following:

eBlast Campaign

Every marketing and public relations department has their own target media list. So, to guarantee the targets of interest actually receive the news release, eBlast campaigns are established. All that’s needed here is an email list, creative or catchy subject line (usually no more than 5-8 words) and insertion of the press release within the body of the email.

Social Media Involvement

It’s all about engagement and offering fans and followers with news and information in real-time. So why not send a tweet directing to the press release or insert the press release content within the “Notes” portion on a Facebook Fan Page? Keep customers and targets involved and in the loop. Also, don’t be afraid to create a blog post based on the message and content provided within the body of the release.

Syndication of content will assure you results. With use of optimization, compelling content and relevant messaging and branding, a press release marketed online will build traffic, web presence, rankings, and leads.


10 Terrific Tech Blogs by Women

Tech tips, geeky how-tos, thoughtful analysis of issues, news about the latest gadgets, ideas for improving your blog—you’ll find it all in these 10 terrific tech and science blogs. They just happen to be written by women.

I. Hacker Chick

hacker chick graphic imageThe Hacker Chick Blog is a beautiful starting point. I say beautiful because the graphics on this blog are stunning: everything from the image representing the hacker chick (software developer Abby Fichtner) to the icons and images used as illustrations are visually outstanding. Hacker Chick writes about designing WordPress themes, agile computing, programming, social media, and business.

In Build Your Startup From the Heart, she said,

The world, it seems, is changing. If you ask Daniel Pink, he’ll say that our “left-brained” aptitudes — logical, analytical skills, the types of things schools reward us for — are no longer sufficient if we want to remain competitive. These are, after all, the very things being automated by computers and outsourced at rates we can’t compete with if we want to pay our mortgages, or, say, eat.

If we truly want to succeed, we need to pull in those right-brained skills that our schools & employers have tried so hard to beat out of us — artistry, empathy, play, and story telling.

You don’t find many programmers who think this way, or who can pull it together the way Hacker Chick does.

II. Pars3c

star trail from pars3cElizabeth Howell has her head in the stars with her blog Pars3c. The blog is pronounced “PAR-seck,” and astronomical term that gives you an idea of the topics you’ll find on the blog. This blog is about astronomy, spaceflight, science and telescopes. Big telescopes.

In 500 explosions, 500 reasons to love satellites, Elizabeth said,

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again — the greatest thing about space-borne observatories is they have 24-hour darkness to enjoy. This makes it easier to catch fleeting cosmic events, even explosions.

Like that moment last month when NASA’s Swift telescope saw its 500th gamma-ray burst.

III. Blogger Buster

blogger busterBlogger Buster is for Google Blogger users. It’s written by Amanda Kay. Blogger templates and tutorials are the heart of this blog.

For example, you can learn about 90 Related Posts with Thumbnails for Blogger – New Version by BloggerWidgets

Aneesh of Blogger Widgets has developed a new “Related Posts” script for Blogger which displays thumbnails of images in addition to linked post titles.

In appearance, this Blogger “add-on” is similar to the LinkWithin script. Each section is highlighted in a complementary colour when the mouse hovers over it, and the entire section is clickable, leading to the URL of the “related post” displayed.

IV. Girl Developer

girl developerGirl Developer is written by Sara, a software engineer. Her topics range among .net and WAN, tech events, software reviews, and life as a developer. There’s always a dash of style and humor in the mix. Recently she wrote about Meeting Wendy Friedlander, a fellow developer who is undergoing cancer treatment.

Meeting Wendy prompted her to put together a fund-raising dinner:

I put this dinner together because I think it would be wonderful if we could all help Wendy a little as a community. She’s one of our own and it really could be any one of us. We’re having a dinner for Wendy, and if you’re in the NYC area and can make it we’d love to have you. It will be a great time of fellowship with other developers and I’m looking forward to it. If you can’t make the dinner or aren’t from the area there is a paypal link here for donations.

V. Do it Myself Blog

do it myselfDo it Myself Blog is the work of Glenda Watson Hyatt, the left-thumb blogger—so called because she types only with her left thumb due to her cerebral palsy. Glenda writes about accessibility on the web and in life, about events she attends and speeches she gives with the help of her computer’s voice, about new technology, entrepreneurship, and trying to find an accessible bathroom while at tech events.

Lately Glenda has been searching for the perfect app for her iPad that will help her with chores like making hair appointments and ordering burgers. In The iPad as an Affordable Communicator: A Follow-up Review, she commented

While I was at the mall last Tuesday, i also made a hair appointment. In the old days I would have typed a note before leaving home. Or, I would have asked Darrell to call for an appointment.

Tuesday i pulled out my iPad, typed a message in the Proloquo2Go app and showed it to the receptionist. An appointment was made for the following day.

All is not golden with the Proloquo2Go app, however, as Glenda discovers when she tries to order food.

VI. Apophenia

danah boyd initialsApophenia is danah boyd’s blog. This blog deals with big ideas. It focuses on issues: trends, analysis, data about how young people use technology, and topics like privacy.

In “for the lolz”: 4chan is hacking the attention economy , danah explains what 4chan is with a “Newbie Note” before she begins her discussion of the site:

Newbie note: If you have never heard of 4chan, start with the Wikipedia entry and not the website itself. The site tends to offend many adults’ sensibilities. As one of my friends put it, loving LOLcats or rickrolling as outputs is like loving a tasty hamburger; visiting 4chan is like visiting the meat factory. At some point, it’d probably help to visit the meat factory, but that might make you go vegetarian.

danah boyd is quite possibly one the the smartest people on the planet, so running big ideas through her mind and getting to read the results of her thinking on her blog is a true privilege.

VII. The Female Perspective of Computer Science

female perspective of computer science logoThe Female Perspective of Computer Science is from Gail Carmichael, who is working on a doctorate in Computer Science. Her fields of study include educational entertainment and augmented reality, both of which get discussed on the blog. Other topics include visual computing, games, events, computer science, and women.

Recently she wrote about Getting the Hang of iPhone Development.

I needed to learn how to develop for the iPhone since the projects I want to work on next will be games for the device. This task was somewhat daunting, given that I hadn’t really even used a Mac before, let alone Objective-C or Xcode. Luckily, there are some really great resources out there that you should check out if you are also just getting started.

So far, the most invaluable resource for me has been the Stanford iTunes U lectures on iPhone development. After watching the lectures via iTunes, you can download all the course materials, including slides and assignments.

A free course from Standford so you can learn how to develop for iPhone? Dang, that’s great information!

VIII. Geek Feminism Blog

geek feminismGeek Feminism Blog has over a dozen writers, mostly women. A few male feminists in the mix is a good thing. The range of topics you find there is as wide and deep as the minds of its many contributors. The frequent linkspam posts are a great source for exploring the blogosphere on topics related to technology and women. Other topics you might find explored there are comics, conferences, gender, open source, programming, star trek, and just about anything else you can think of that interests geeks.

In July 6th is the last day for super early bird rate for Grace Hopper Celebration, Terri tells us,

If you haven’t heard of GHC before, it’s a really amazing conference for women involved in technology (especially geek feminists!). Not only does it tip the usual ratios on their heads (hello, >90% women! And yes, that means men are welcome.) it’s one of very few conferences where I can say that even the most technical talks are interesting and well-presented.

IX. CSS, JavaScript and XHTML Explained and Standardista

standardistaCSS, JavaScript and XHTML Explained is by Estele Weyl. The title is self-describing, but doesn’t completely cover the range of what you find there. You might learn about conferences, girl geeks, browser quirks, accessibility and other web development related topics. Estele has another blog called Standardista: CSS3, JavaScript and HTML5 Explained that is similar but devoted to newer technologies such as HTML5. As the technologies move forward, the newer blog may get the most additions.

Estele is great at putting things in an organized matrix to help you quickly see what is what with a topic. For example, in HTML5 Input Attributes & Browser Support, she created a handy table to show which browsers support which of the new HTML5 form elements.

X. MacTips

mac tipsI saved a great one for last: MacTips, the very helpful guide to Macs, iPhones and iPads from Miraz Jordan. The tips never end at MacTips. For example, Use Safari 5′s Reader for easier reading on the web and How to change app Preferences on an iPhone.

Miraz always has clear directions with informative illustrations and screen shots to guide you through all things Mac.

Cross-posted in slightly different form at BlogHer.

How to Choose a Domain Name or Username

Is this you? You’re ready to start a new blog or buy a new domain name. You want to avoid problems with trademarked names, branded names, and domain names. How do you find a name that someone else doesn’t already have a claim to?

The question What if someone is already using my user name?…and other assorted questions in the How to Blog (Better) group discussion is a good example of the issues many people face. The domain name of choice is available, but someone is already using the username on Twitter. If you can’t match your domain name or blog with the name you intend to use on Twitter (or Facebook, or anywhere else) then how do you create a brand identity for yourself?

What if you choose a blog name or username that someone is using somewhere and they come after you for infringing on their brand or trademark? Not fun.

Early in the process of choosing a name for yourself, you need to take a look at all the possibilities.

A good way to start is simply to search for the name you want and see what turns up. If I search for vdebolt, I find almost 9,000 results. Here are the first few, including a Twitter name, a domain name, and an unexplained association with a site called Web Teacher.

name search

Virginia DeBolt = vdebolt. I pretty much have a lock on the name vdebolt. (By the way, the reason Web Teacher shows up in a search for vdebolt is because of an hCard. You can learn how to use hCards here.) If someone came along and started using that username, I would object.

Even if I didn’t own the vdebolt.com domain, I might be using the vdebolt username in several places. That was the issue in What if someone is already using my user name?…and other assorted questions.

You can do a username search.

username search

Google found 438 instances of the username vdebolt, with the first results coming from Twitter. Only the first few results are relevant, but they would be enough to show that the name is already in use if you were considering using it.

If you want to sign up for a free blog at wordpress.com or blogspot.com, you won’t be allowed to select a username that’s already in use.

My friend Rachel recently decided to start blogging. She writes about food, gardening, and cooking. She selected the name And then make soup. This name was available as a username on both blogspot.com and wordpress.com. She started with a Blogspot blog, but decided in favor of WordPress. Rachel has this username on both the big free blogging platforms, although she’s putting her posts at And Then Make Soup on WordPress.

Rachel doesn’t want to buy a domain for her blog, but it’s a good idea to check to see if the name is being used by someone with a domain. There are several ways to check on the availability of a domain name.

One way is to type the name in the browsers location bar and see what comes up. If I try to navigate to andthenmakesoup.com, I get an error message.

error message

I recently wrote a chapter for a book called InterACT with Web Standards and needed an imaginary domain name to use for some student exercises. I choose Battle Hill Bistro or www.battlehillbistro.com as the name and checked to make sure it wasn’t real by typing the URL in the browser to see if anything came up. It didn’t.

Another way to check on whether a domain name is available is to go to one of the domain registrars and search. Here’s the form from Go Daddy. Type in the name, choose .com or .net or .whateveryouwant and see if it’s available.

domain search

It turns out that this domain is available in just about any form you’d want. And, Go Daddy will be glad to sell it to you.

domain search results

Rachel is thinking about buying and parking (parking a domain means you own it but you don’t have anything live on it) several of these domain names, just so no one can come along and steal the name she wants to have associated with her blog/brand. She may have done it by now.

Rachel already can claim some association with the phrase and then make soup. A search on the phrase brings up her wordpress blog. You also see an unrelated Twitter result and an unrelated result from Simply Recipes, which as most foodies know, gets superb search engine results.

phrase search results

Even though and then make soup is simply a phrase, and you can’t copyright that, Rachel could justify a sense of ownership in the phrase. If someone else started using it as a username on another blog, on Facebook or in some other way, she might complain and try to call a halt to it.

If you search for andthenmakesoup all run together like a domain or blog name, you also turn up Rachel’s blog.

andthenmakesoup search

This doesn’t really protect her if someone decided to buy a domain and start a standard web site by the same name as her blog. But the existence of the blog should give pause to anyone thinking of buying the domain. They wouldn’t want to be losing traffic to a site with a similar name.

Tech Crunch recently ran an article about Yahoo! buying flicker.com that included an interesting quote from Caterina Fake of flickr.com explaining how the whole e-less Flickr name happened when Flickr worked around already the existing Flicker domain name. (Interesting that the unintended consequence of Flickr’s decision to go e-less was a new trend in that direction by a series of other web sites such as tumblr.com.)

A consideration I’ve learned about the hard way is the relative value of the more common domain options like .com, .net., and .org. When I bought webteacher.ws all the more common choices were gone. I should have considered that enough reason to choose something completely different, but I went with the .ws. It was a mistake. It’s too obscure. Nobody remembers it. And the more common names like webteacher.com take away traffic that might be meant for me. Too bad I made that poor choice before the Flickr came along, I might have tried to hit the jackpot with webteachr.com!

You want to be unique and memorable. You want to avoid trouble from other people using the same name. The best way is to do your homework before you settle on a name. See what’s already out there. Then make a choice.

Cross posted at BlogHer, where there is additional trademark information.

Two by Two: Ten Years in Tech

In the ten years since 2000, things changed rapidly in the technology field. We get used to them day by day, adopt changes and never look back. When you do take a moment to look back, you realize how much really has changed in the last 10 years. I wrote this as part of BlogHer’s 10 in 10 series. Here are ten things about the last ten years of technology, starting with women in tech.

Two Women

Marissa Mayer is Vice President of Search Product and User Experience at Google. She started with Google in 1999, with a computer science degree from Stanford in her hand. Ten years later, here she is in action at Web 2.0 Summit 09.

Marissa Mayer is responsible for many of the changes in how we conduct an online life, how we search, how we interact with technology. To my mind, she is the most influential woman in tech for the last 10 years. Fortune Magazine placed her a 44 in a list of the 50 most powerful women, but as far as I’m concerned, she’s number 1.

Dori Smith runs a close second in influence behind Mayer. It’s not because Dori Smith is an important public face for a big corporation. She’s much quieter and less public. Here she talks about JavaScript programming.

Dori she did something years ago, the ripples from which are still spreading through the tech community. She created a web site called Wise-Women with a tech oriented discussion list: an old fashioned listserv. For all these years, the focus in that list has been women (and men too, but mostly women) helping other women with technical issues. Scores of people have learned much of what they needed to know from conversations on the Wise-Women list. The focus has never wavered, the information sharing has never stopped.

Dori Smith is not spending all her time on listservs, however. She written a number of books on topics like JavaScript, was a founding member of the Web Standards Project, and produces all sorts of information on programming. She has helped a great many learn about technology.

Two Websites

It’s hard to narrow the list down to two influential websites from the last 10 years, isn’t it? So many important sites get left out. Surely BlogHer has been relevant for women. Here are two I think have had huge general impact.

YouTube tops my list. YouTube changed the way we learn, the way we share, the way we teach, the way we play. It’s often the first place we look for something—a video of Marissa Mayer speaking at a conference, for example. We go to YouTube for news, for music, for tutorials, for interviews, for everything.

My second choice is Facebook. In a way undreamed of 10 years ago, Facebook has changed our lives. We use Facebook to keep in touch with friends, promote our work, find jobs, support causes, and play games. Facebook pulls in information to your personal page from other social media sources such as Twitter. It’s the ubiquitous social network.

Two Innovations

Beginning the decade with the Y2K bug and moving through literally hundreds of technological innovations in the 10 years since the meltdown that wasn’t, plenty of new tech has claimed a place in our lives.

Mobile phone technology changed the decade, starting with clunky and limited phones and advancing to the iPhone (released in 2007), mobile technology has altered lifestyles in numerous ways. Using myself as an example, I no longer have a home phone, just a cell phone. I whip out that phone 50 times a day for one reason or another, but seldom to make a phone call. If I want to tell you something, I’ll text it or tweet it. If I want to learn something I’ll search for it or find it with an app especially designed to give me the exact information I want from a weather forecast to a movie time to a map.

Wireless everything is now standard. Even 30,000 in the air. Smaller and smaller computers that connect wirelessly to the Internet from everywhere. Netbooks, iPads, tech innovations that grow more and more portable while doing more and more of your daily chores. iPods that don’t just play your tunes, but connect wirelessly to get your mail and let you surf the web. Restaurants prosper whose main claim to customer loyalty comes from free and fast wireless.

Two Flops

Microsoft could never get Vista to capture the public’s affection. Now we have Windows 7—thank you Microsoft—but for a while, it looked like Vista was going to make even the most loyal of Microsoft fans turn away from the mother ship toward that juggernaut known as Apple.

Microsoft Zune, the mp3 player meant to compete with the iPod, was another stunning flop. Sure, it played music as well as the iPod, but it didn’t provide the experience that an iPod did with its beautiful and simple interface. In the never ending face-off between Microsoft and Apple, Apple keeps getting the experience right and Microsoft keeps flubbing it. Apple is like eating at Benihana. Sure you can get fried rice and grilled shimp at any decent Asian restaurant, but you don’t get the Benihana experience just anywhere. Zune just doesn’t provide the cool experience.

I hate to lay both flops at the feet of Microsoft, with so many flops to choose from, but the Microsoft giant has been losing ground to Google, to Apple, to open source, and to just about every other innovator who wants a piece of the pie.

Two trends

Social networking is a pervasive trend affecting everything from personal interaction and network building to political fund raising. I don’t know how long this trend will continue to grow, but the growth has been astonishing. We have people proposing marriage and finding jobs on Twitter, documenting life on blogs or places like BlogHer, setting up coffee dates on Facebook, and looking to the social networks for answers, advice, and connection. Social networking grew exponentially during the last decade.

The final item in my list of ten is the trend toward digital delivery of things we used to go to the store to buy. Music, movies, books, tech support, financial services, television, phone service, news—the list is long. Yes, you still have to go the store to buy a mattress, but the mattress store in my neighborhood is now in the former location of a Blockbuster video. Blockbuster is a thing of the past with Netflix bringing movies straight to your TV. Many businesses that thrived in the past are struggling and dying in a digital economy. By the time another decade has passed we should know how this particular trend has played out. I, for one, hope that news organizations with paid investigative reporters find a way to survive in a world of digital delivery.

Feel free to suggested the big events, people, and stories of the last decade that I left out.

On a personal note, I must mention that this blog will be 10 years old in 2011. I didn’t quite begin when the decade began, but I’m becoming a venerable oldie in the blog world.