As a journalist who covered technology in Silicon Valley for four years, I thought I was relatively tech-savvy. I owned Windows and Mac computers, used Apple iLife apps to make slideshows and burn DVDs, did lots of online photo albums, was all over Gmail and Yahoo groups, and used iPods to record my interviews. I got how chipmakers use strained silicon to enhance microprocessor performance. I understood the technology behind 30-mile-range wireless WiMax. I saw why computer makers had trouble making money off of desktops.

   But I was basically a hardware reporter covering personal computers, microprocessors and the companies that make them. I realized from Week One of our PADA class with the beginning of our introduction to the many software apps, to social networking, to indexing and clouds on the Web and mashups, and the many online resources we've looked at, that I was way behind the curve.

   My biggest moments of discovery were our first class, and our session last week. Starting with our introduction to del.icio.us and wikis -- those are a couple of things I'll be taking with me! Then again at the end, when Betsy went through that long list of amazing leverages of the Web, and heat maps and tag clouds and Marumushi and Gapminder and ManyEyes and Swivel ...

   Much of that was impressive and surprising. The tools you can use with the Web are truly game-changing, for journalists, news readers or students. That we've been in the thick of the presidential campaign  for this quarter has been an added boon because it has shown us both how candidates use the Internet (fund-raising, direct email, promotional and attack videos), and how the Internet can be used to evaluate them. Websites from the reading such as 2008racetracker.com, politicsTV.com, and Newsweek's The Ruckus show how it can be done. One reading that stood out was the description of spoof websites and how forums for Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson were actually sabotage site apparently run by "Ronulans" (a word for supporters of Ron Paul that I picked up from one of the readings about political blogs). An aspect that I would have been interested in exploring more is how the candidates use Facebook and MySpace. I've developed my Facebook presence these past several weeks, and I'm aware of candidates' "Become a fan of ..." pages. We spoke of how journalists should consider using two personae for Facebook reporting -- one clearly stating their reportorial affiliations and one private. But I'm not familiar with details of how it goes down. I also don't know how this works on MySpace because ... who has the time to maintain a MySpace page too?? It would be interesting to see how those approaches resonate with, say, undergraduates of voting age. Those are some conversations I should have Spring quarter :-)

   On the technical side I valued the articles from the reading on crafting Web pages and slideshows, and radio stories (Ira Glass). Also, those on the state of journalism, which have sparked some discussion in class, and much back-and-forth in our office hallway on the second floor.

   I quite liked how the class was composed of students from various walks of life, from public policy, health and arts, and how some of you work in government. We're an international group with perspectives from different cultures. I've also found refreshing the chance to discuss common readings and themes with professionals who brought real-world and local experiences to bear, such as from the Gahanna mayor's office or the public health sphere. And I'm looking forward to seeing Woong-Jo's breakdance video! :-)

   So, while I may not be *way* ahead of the curve now, I do feel much more up to speed on the online environment. I just watched the "Twitter" video from CommonCraft (the plain-speak series on YouTube for which Debra showed us the installment about del.icio.us), and I've been copying many of the PADA del.icio.us links over to my own del.icio.us page for future reference (the political viral videos is a great one).

   And speaking of the future -- do stay in touch! I'm at tyjones01@gmail.com.

   Thanks for adding to a chock-full engaging quarter!

   -- Terril Jones 3-6-08