Wikis, Assignments and my Team

Well I have to submit my blog tomorrow for Assessment. I feel a little sad as I have enjoyed posting this online journal.

I have been working on Wiki with my team and it is looking good. What a useful document a Wiki is and if you know a little HTML it is a breeze.

My tutor has been cool, we have hung out in Second Life, he has pushed when needed and stood back when need. Thanks for that.

My team, we are so different all of us. But we have pulled together and worked together, not necessarily all at once but it has helped not only my business, my self esteem and been educational but I have gained some friends that I would not have met otherwise.

Thanks to Collaborative Technologies.

The End of the Second Life Experience

I have now come to the end of my paper and hence goodbye Second Life.

This is has been a great ride. I have enjoyed every minute of it. I have met some of the loveliest people online without leaving home. Have made some business contacts. Have talked and learnt different languages, shared stories (not to personal) and been hit on .. just quietly more than alot. But this place is fascinating and captures the attentions of those who enter into it.

I talk to my friends about it and they say "its not real" and yet one or two of them have entered it and they say .. yeah now we get it. You are talking to real personalities and real people. You can pick liars and people who aren't genuine. You normally get a feeling for whom you are talking too.

So I take from this experience the ability to communicate in IM and get my point across, appreciate different cultures when communicating online. Learn to be patient when chatting on line. Plus, I have also danced in Hell and Heaven, been to Monastery with monks singing beautifully, walked the street of Berlin (exact replica) and met some incredible personalities.

Will I leave this place never to return ... mmm I will think about it. Cya Second Life.

Customer Relationship Management

Having a great relationship with your customer is something that promotes business 10 fold. Customer Relationship Management software is available to remember the details that the Human Salesperson can not. For example bookstores can record their most regular shoppers favorite authors, what books they like. Large department stores can have knowledge of their customers personal details all packaged up so they can deliver the ultimate personal service. This form of technology comes in a software package. But thinking about it we do this on a personal level anyway. Any of my contacts that I have on my PC all have details about their addresses, phone numbers, email, nicknames, spouses and partners names, dob.

I can see that CRM is a vital part of maintain a huge database of customers. Something that big business should definitely if not invest in then investigate. Customer service as always wins with me.

Tele Tele Tele

Wow I telecommute, how many world wide people do the same. To telecommute one works from home using the various technologies to keep in touch with their Employer or Corporation. Saving precious time in travel and getting to work drawbacks.

This is not a Technology as such but relies on technology to work efficiently. Also problems do lie in companies finding the right person for the job. Credentials must be... able to work well, alone and away from socialisation and be self motivated. Not everyone is suited to such an isolating position. But think of the benefits, wake up and work not commute through endless traffic, stressing about getting the kids to school on time and then getting work on time, less interruptions, less idle chit chat must equal more quality in the workload.

For me I already do this, I work from home and find that it suits my lifestyle but not everyone is suited. Isolation can cause its own problems making some people less motivated as opposed to more.

However, it works for me but I am my own boss, but I have Clients using Messenger daily to keep in contact as well as email. Telecommuting is fab.

Mobile working is have your laptop, PDA, Mobile phone or Pocket PC and being able to work anywhere that WiFi is available ..cool!! This means using the best technology to work from cafes, motels, hotels, public places. This does not necessary mean that the mobile worker does not have an office but spends limited time in it. More time is spent on the road and in the various places that Wireless Internet Access is available. Best suited for the travelling salesperson and someone who has to be everywhere except their office on a daily basis. This is something that would suit me to the ground, doing coffee at my fav cafe' while working and being able to take my laptop and all work is there right in front of me.

These two are the way of future possibly. Making working on road and at home a breeze. Offices are expensive to run will this mean that the office worker may become a thing of the past ?? We shall see.

Synchronous Media ... what??

Synchronous Media .... what does that mean?

Don't drop off to sleep yet it means :- media that allows real-time communication, all participants must be online at the same time, but not necessarily at the same place, in order to participate.

Text Based Chat, Instant Messaging, Audioconferencing, Muds and Moos and Virtual Worlds, Avatars are all part of the Synchronous Media, alot of us use it everyday. Messenger for example, allowing our messages to be delivered instantly. Muds and Moos and Virtual Worlds ahhhh.. Second Life. Audioconferencing, still an expensive way for businesses to communicate but a thorough way to conduct online meetings, face to face. The way the world is going, this media allows online Collaboration to be carried out in the most efficient way, with the affordable use of Skype and Messenger through to the expensive Audioconferencing.

The Virtual Worlds are relatively new but catching on ... hence the posts about Second Life. I drew a conclusion though about all this online collaboaration. It makes people in all countries accessible and dating on line seems to be rampant in alot of these technologies that are offered. The business side of it interests me, fascinating to think I could work for Microsoft in the US and hold daily business meetings with my boss.

Does this help businesses to find the best person for the job world wide, the best client world wide.. I would think so. Efficiency and cost effectiveness, alot of these available technologies are within the reach of the normal business and easy to learn and allows their team of staff to collaborate and build strong teams online.

And still more Second Life

This seems to take on a life of its own and also probably needs it's own blog. But I just have to report on the fascination that is Second Life.

I have made some real interactions and friendships in here. But there is those who use it for different purposes apart from Education. It seems one that is rampant is an online dating service for Avatars to meet each and engage in possible romances. This is something that is irrelevant to my Collaborative Technologies course but something I felt that needed a post.

Second Life it seems takes on a real form for many people within this community. Every thing I have learnt so far has helped me to interact in here but also stay detached. But one cant help but be curious as to what the thousands of people are in there looking for. I have thought some of the interactions that are going on can't be healthy but lets say for example .. someone who does not have much of a real life, is disabled or suffers from some form social disorder that stops them from interacting much in the real world. Does Second Life hinder or help. People seem to have real feelings about each other in here but how can they, there is no physical attraction but then who said a beautiful mind isn't attractive.

The amazing places that you can visit and have them move you to feel real life feelings is that REAL... Or is it in your mind and you are creating this from the comfort of your PC. Is it a game? For some no it is not .. real feelings and relationships are being developed in here. Not for me I might add but I have had discussions with those who have developed Second Life relationships and are now having Real Life ones with the those they have met.

Is there such a thing as a virtual relationship.. a question to ponder.

Forums and Bulletin Boards

Forums and Bulletin Boards .. another form of collaboration that takes on interesting forms. I have used forums alot in all different ways. I have used them to post inquiries on various subjects ... waiting on answers from experts or using the world wide knowledge that is availabe for other people also looking for the same thing. Some are so outdated though, why do they sit on the net?? Answer being.. maybe that there is so much available information within the postings that perhaps the host of the forum considered that what was contained within, was a valuable resource to the online community. Forums are used alot in the Education sector, for tutor to student and student to tutor interactions. Students are able to post findings within the forum and other virtual team members are able to interact based on the post.

Forums for those whom are unfamiliar are usually a topic containing a description and following that will be thread relating to the particular topic and then following that will contain messages relating to the thread, mmm a little confusing, for those of us less used to techie jargon. But if you have used them this is old hat.

Public forums are usually hosted for free and then use advertising banners to support their cause.

Bulletin Boards are similar but allow the host of the Board to display particular information that they want the community to see. These seem to go in all different directions .. for example one I visited had everything from career opportunities to weather reports. Both of these rely on constant interaction to keep them vibrant and alive in the web world.

Entering a forum can create it own forms of frustration, these can be anything from a long registration process to having trouble locating the information you require and also logging posts that have no reply. No use interacting with yourself huh!!