<!-- BEGIN ODIOGO LISTEN BUTTON v2.5.7 (WP) -->
		<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="http://widget.odiogo.com/odiogo_js.php?feed_id=687068&amp;platform=wp&amp;version=2.5.7"></script>
		
		<!-- END ODIOGO LISTEN BUTTON v2.5.7 (WP) -->{"id":187,"date":"2009-04-20T09:35:14","date_gmt":"2009-04-20T09:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/slewth.wordpress.com\/?p=187"},"modified":"2009-04-20T09:35:14","modified_gmt":"2009-04-20T09:35:14","slug":"internet-tools-for-phd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slewth.co.uk\/blog\/2009\/04\/20\/internet-tools-for-phd\/","title":{"rendered":"Internet Tools for PhD"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\t\t<!-- BEGIN ODIOGO LISTEN BUTTON v2.5.7 (WP) -->\r\n\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" language=\"javascript\">\r\n\t\t<!--\r\n\t\t\/\/ ODIOGO_START:do_NOT_remove_this_comment\r\n\t\tshowOdiogoReadNowButton (\"687068\", \"Internet Tools for PhD\", \"187\", 290, 55);\r\n\t\t\/\/ -->\r\n\t\t<\/script>\r\n\t\t<br\/>\r\n\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" language=\"javascript\">\r\n\t\t<!--\r\n\t\tshowInitialOdiogoReadNowFrame (\"687068\", \"187\", 290, 0);\r\n\t\t\/\/ ODIOGO_END:do_NOT_remove_this_comment\r\n\t\t\/\/ -->\r\n\t\t<\/script>\r\n\t\t<!-- END ODIOGO LISTEN BUTTON v2.5.7 (WP) -->\r\n\t\t\n<p>This week I belatedly took at look at the <a title=\"Guardian Top 100 Websites\" href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/technology\/2008\/dec\/18\/internet-websites\" target=\"_blank\">Guardian Top 100 Website<\/a> listings for the year ahead (2009). This is always an interesting read. New Entries vie against previous success stories, and the chart&#8217;s Non-Movers are frequently a good indication of developer\u2019s hard graft and continuing innovation.<\/p>\n<p>The list covers several areas. For fellow (PhD) researchers and those interested in potential educational tools, I\u2019ve shortlisted and annotated the topics I found most relevant:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Visualisation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Visualisation is the final category on the Guardian list, but I begin with it as it is the most relevant to those seeking new tools for data manipulation.\u00a0 Three sites are listed, foremost amongst them being<a title=\"Google Visualisation\" href=\"http:\/\/www.code.google.com\/apis\/visualization\/documentation\/gallery.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Google Visualisation tools<\/a>,\u00a0 featuring dozens of tools for making data more comprehensible. Of these tools I noticed <a title=\"Motion Chart\" href=\"http:\/\/code.google.com\/apis\/visualization\/documentation\/gallery\/motionchart.html\" target=\"_blank\">Motion Chart<\/a>, a temporal-visualisation of data that appear to be surfacing from Google\u2019s acquisition of Hans Rosling&#8217;s <a title=\"GapMinder\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gapminder.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">GapMinder<\/a> project. Notably there also appear to be tools for creating <a title=\"Sparklines\" href=\"http:\/\/code.google.com\/apis\/visualization\/documentation\/gallery\/imagesparkline.html\" target=\"_blank\">Sparklines<\/a>, an efficient visualisation originally pioneered by the &#8216;Da Vinci of Data&#8217; himself, <a title=\"Edward Tufte\" href=\"http:\/\/www.edwardtufte.com\/tufte\/index\" target=\"_blank\">Edward Tufte<\/a>. Other sites recognised by the Guardian are <a title=\"Many Eyes\" href=\"http:\/\/www.manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com\/manyeyes\/page\/Visualization_Options.html\" target=\"_blank\">Many Eyes<\/a>, IBM&#8217;s visualisation tools, similar to Google&#8217;s and <a title=\"DabbleDB\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dabbledb.com\" target=\"_blank\">DabbleDB<\/a> which allows you to create online databases and analyse them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Create\/Collaborate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As someone desperate to avail themselves of Apple\u2019s Keynote for presentations, I was interested to check out <a title=\"280 Slides\" href=\"http:\/\/www.280slides.com\" target=\"_blank\">280slides<\/a> cited as \u2018A presentation create presentations online. Very slick.\u2019 Alternatives to PowerPoint always bear investigation \u2013 although this appears to be a fairly PPT dependent app so far.\u00a0 <a title=\"Dipity\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dipity.com\" target=\"_blank\">Dipity<\/a> is also listed and offers the opportunity to build multimedia timelines. If you\u2019re plotting the course of your studies, or want a reflexive tool for realtime use, this could reward experimentation for those using varied sources. My addition to this category might break the no-download rules, but I&#8217;d also recommend the <a title=\"Open University\" href=\"http:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\" target=\"_blank\">Open University<\/a>\u2019s <a title=\"Compendium\" href=\"http:\/\/compendium.open.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">Compendium<\/a> for wicked problems and solo or communal mind mapping.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Blogging<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Research diaries and journals are vital to those developing reflexive practice, blogs also offer the opportunity for PhD students to share research and develop an academic presence online.\u00a0 An increasingly streamlined category, this year the Guardian cite only <a title=\"Wordpress\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wordpress.com\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress<\/a> for content creation and <a title=\"blog lines\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bloglines.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bloglines<\/a> for managing your feeds.\u00a0 The management of social information is a strong theme in this year&#8217;s list.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Physical from virtual<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve <a title=\"previous article\" href=\"http:\/\/slewth.wordpress.com\/2008\/09\/16\/live-sociology-4-sites-and-sounds\/\" target=\"_self\">previously blogged<\/a> on available small scale printing from <a title=\"Blurb\" href=\"http:\/\/www.blurb.com\" target=\"_blank\">Blurb<\/a> and others. The Guardian also raise London based <a title=\"Moo Publishing\" href=\"http:\/\/www.moo.com\" target=\"_blank\">Moo<\/a> for business cards and <a title=\"Lulu Publishing\" href=\"http:\/\/www.lulu.com\" target=\"_blank\">Lulu<\/a> another stop for book, photobook, calendars and other sorts of publishing. I\u2019m still dreaming of a 4-colour thesis.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Twitter, and associated<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For those trying to surveille the social web, <a title=\"Monitter\" href=\"http:\/\/www.monitter.com\" target=\"_blank\">Monitter<\/a> offers a useful service for watching keywords on <a title=\"Twitter\" href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>. Importantly, no log-in is required (as of April 20th).\u00a0 Again, this is the second highlighted service that deals specifically with filtering mass generated social information.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Video<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking to share video consider <a title=\"Vimeo\" href=\"http:\/\/www.vimeo.com\" target=\"_blank\">Vimeo<\/a> for better rights control than <a title=\"YouTube\" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube<\/a> and a cleaner interface.\u00a0 My addition here is <a title=\"Easy YouTube\" href=\"http:\/\/icant.co.uk\/easy-youtube\/\" target=\"_blank\">Easy YouTube<\/a> a more accessible interface built over YouTube that removes a lot of the complications and distractions users have to wade through. This was developed in response to the <a title=\"AbilityNet website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.abilitynet.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">AbilityNet<\/a> Web 2.0 conference, which highlighted (amongst other things) the inaccessibility of Web2.0 tools for people with learning disabilities.\u00a0 There are also rumours of developments for captioning (subtitles) on YouTube circulating at <a title=\"Accessify Captions for YouTube\" href=\"http:\/\/accessify.com\/news\/2009\/02\/easy-youtube-caption-creator-a-very-rough-first-build\/\" target=\"_blank\">Accessify<\/a>. Exciting times!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Virtual worlds\/MMORPGs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Second Life\" href=\"http:\/\/www.secondlife.com\" target=\"_blank\">Second Life<\/a> is notably absent from this year&#8217;s list. <a title=\"Moshi Monsters\" href=\"http:\/\/moshimonsters.com\" target=\"_blank\">Moshi Monsters<\/a> crops up as an &#8220;educational&#8221; virtual world for kids.<\/p>\n<p>And finally, <a title=\"The Guardian Newspaper\" href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\">The Guardian<\/a> lists <strong>Cartoons<\/strong>, as &#8216;eveyone needs some relaxation&#8217;. Absent, but nontheless essential viewing for postgraduates everywhere is <a title=\"Piled Higher and Deeper\" href=\"http:\/\/www.phdcomics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Piled Higher and Deeper<\/a>, the only PhD based comic strip you&#8217;re ever likely to need.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\r\n\t\t<!-- BEGIN ODIOGO LISTEN BUTTON v2.5.7 (WP) -->\r\n\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" language=\"javascript\">\r\n\t\t<!--\r\n\t\t\/\/ ODIOGO_START:do_NOT_remove_this_comment\r\n\t\tshowOdiogoReadNowButton (\"687068\", \"Internet Tools for PhD\", \"187\", 290, 55);\r\n\t\t\/\/ -->\r\n\t\t<\/script>\r\n\t\t<br\/>\r\n\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" language=\"javascript\">\r\n\t\t<!--\r\n\t\tshowInitialOdiogoReadNowFrame (\"687068\", \"187\", 290, 0);\r\n\t\t\/\/ ODIOGO_END:do_NOT_remove_this_comment\r\n\t\t\/\/ -->\r\n\t\t<\/script>\r\n\t\t<!-- END ODIOGO LISTEN BUTTON v2.5.7 (WP) -->\r\n\t\t\n<p>This week I belatedly took at look at the Guardian Top 100 Website listings for the year ahead (2009). This is always an interesting read. New Entries vie against previous success stories, and the chart&#8217;s Non-Movers are frequently a good indication of developer\u2019s hard graft and continuing innovation. The list covers several areas. For fellow [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tools","category-web-20"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/slewth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/slewth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/slewth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slewth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slewth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/slewth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/slewth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slewth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slewth.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}