2008.09.14 13:00 - Tech-savvy observations (or not)

The guardian for this meeting was Sylectra and the comments are hers.

I arrived at the meeting with a new pet koala on my arm. Adams Rubble was already seated.

Adams Rubble: Hello Sylectra :)
Adams Rubble: Is that a koala?
Sylectra Darwin: Hi Adams!
Sylectra Darwin: Yes, it is!
Sylectra Darwin: I just got it.
Adams Rubble: new member :)
Sylectra Darwin: hehe
Sylectra Darwin: I haven't even named him yet.
Adams Rubble: :)
Sylectra Darwin: I'm here in Maxine's place.
Adams Rubble: There that should be better. I was just editing this mornings log
Adams Rubble: Yes I remember. I wasn't sure I could make it
Adams Rubble: It is good to see you :)
Sylectra Darwin: It's great to see you as well.
Adams Rubble: How is everything?
Adams Rubble: Hi Doug :)

We discussed the use of various high-tech tools for the observations after 9-second moments.

Sylectra Darwin: So, are you Twittering your 9-second observations?
Adams Rubble: It seems that I am
Sylectra Darwin: Things are slowing down for me just enough to breathe. :)
Adams Rubble: I didn't have any idea fo what it meant until I looked it up
Adams Rubble: "I am taking out the garbage now"
doug Sosa: ho :)
Adams Rubble: "I am answering the phone"
Sylectra Darwin: Did you actually observe that?
Adams Rubble: "I am writing in my blog"
Adams Rubble: No, that is what twitterers do :)
Adams Rubble: Pema is refering to the shortness of the exerpts (I surely hope)
Adams Rubble: hehe
Adams Rubble: Twitterers keep each entry to 140 characters or less
Sylectra Darwin: So is this too much of a restriction?
Adams Rubble: Hi Quilty :)
Sylectra Darwin: Hi Quilty
Quilty Bookmite: hi all.
doug Sosa: come sit.
Adams Rubble: I would not make it a restriction for me Syl :)
Quilty Bookmite: Just waiting for the cushions to rez properly.
Adams Rubble: I have long entries too
Sylectra Darwin: I am intrigued by the idea of posting 9-sec observations using my cell phone to my Twitter account.
Adams Rubble: Yes, that could work
Adams Rubble doesn;t have a cell phone
Quilty Bookmite doesn't have a twitter account
doug Sosa: to me it would mean stopping what i am doing and doing something else.
Adams Rubble has no twitter account either
Sylectra Darwin: I would like to not have a cell phone - they still confuse me - but cheaper than a land line.
Adams Rubble: Yes, that seems to be the way to go now
Quilty Bookmite: I'm also very bad at texting. I dislike it and am not very good at it,
Adams Rubble: Old habits die hard
Adams Rubble: that was for me not you Quilty :)
Quilty Bookmite: Back in a bit. My daughter is upset.
Sylectra Darwin: ok
Adams Rubble: The Twitter page says that some churches are using it and people tlk to each other during church
Quilty Bookmite: Back. She seems to have just fallen asleep. :-)
Adams Rubble: or maybe that is the Wikipedia page
Adams Rubble: Ah good Quilty
Quilty Bookmite: Fair enough.
Quilty Bookmite: Spoke too soon.

Conversation turned to the use of blogs and live note-taking software which works with blogs.

Adams Rubble: I am usually near a computer so the blog works for me which is how I started it (It became public by accident)
Sylectra Darwin: So I went to the Second Life Community Convention and learned a really neat tip that might work for writing down observations.
Sylectra Darwin: Blog is great :)
Adams Rubble: For people who aren't and have cell phones, maybe the twitter thing will work for them
Adams Rubble: Yes Syl?
Sylectra Darwin: It's called Coveritlive.com
Sylectra Darwin: It allows you to type notes in real time and they show up anywhere you want them to show - live - like on your blog.
Sylectra Darwin: Another attendee showed me how to use it and I tried it for notetaking at the conference.
Adams Rubble: Hmmm
Adams Rubble: did you like it?
Sylectra Darwin: I did.
Adams Rubble: Was that from a cell phone too?
Sylectra Darwin: But the size didn't show up perfectly for all my live testers who were watching my blog while I typed.
Sylectra Darwin: For some it cut off the right margin.
Adams Rubble: that's not good
Sylectra Darwin: No...sometimes technology can be more of a distraction for this sort of thing than a helper :)
Adams Rubble: :)
Adams Rubble: Can you enter data from both a cell phone and a computer?
Sylectra Darwin: into coveritlive? Just a computer
Adams Rubble: ah. thanks
Sylectra Darwin: I bet I could get my twitter accoutn to show on my blog though, and that would be from my cell phone.
Adams Rubble: :)
Sylectra Darwin: Again, you have to weigh the potential for efficiency against the potential for distraction by technology :)
doug Sosa: I mentioned at the end of this morning's session that the train engineer in la
Adams Rubble: yes
doug Sosa: was distracted from the signals because he was texting. A real metaphor for our time.
Sylectra Darwin: haha
Adams Rubble: yes
Adams Rubble: Lots of things can be distractions
Sylectra Darwin: Interesting that texting can bring both good and bad mental stimulation.
Adams Rubble: I see Doug's point of the metaphor but there are times when we need our full attention especially when lives are at stake
Sylectra Darwin: Yes, very true.
Adams Rubble: that sounded pompous though :)
Sylectra Darwin: Well it's interesting that the ways of taking notes can often influence our state of mind.
Sylectra Darwin: I have heard in writing class the difference between hand writing and typing .
Quilty Bookmite: Back.
Adams Rubble: I wonder of that depends quite a bit on the person
Sylectra Darwin: Yes, and that is an interesting point, Adams, because each of us has a slightly different approach to the 9-second moment and the observations we collect afterwards.
Adams Rubble: I take a notebook with me now when I go for a walk but it is not as organized as the blog
Sylectra Darwin: Nice way to do it.
Quilty Bookmite: If everyone in the PaB group was to open a twitter account and log their thoughts 4 times every hour....
doug Sosa: I like to keep making sketches of wherever i am, but haven't tried it during the 9 sec. BTW, lunch is served so I most say bye.
Quilty Bookmite: Wouldn;t we just end up with a mass of data, most of which is noise?
Adams Rubble: bye doug
Quilty Bookmite: Bye Doug
Sylectra Darwin: bye Doug
Adams Rubble: Actually my blog fits that description Quilty
Adams Rubble: hehe
Quilty Bookmite: You are one person Adams. :-)
Quilty Bookmite: Do you blog 4 times an hour?
Adams Rubble: I am not consistent
Adams Rubble: Sometimes I do, sometimes not
Adams Rubble: I am reinforcing your point :)
Sylectra Darwin: smiles
Quilty Bookmite: Maybe if you were blogging from your mobile you would be more consistent.
Adams Rubble: No, that's not all the reason for the inconsistency
Quilty Bookmite: Fair enough. :-)
Sylectra Darwin: That's the reason I want to try from my cell.
Adams Rubble: To do it four times an hour the mindfulness bell must be working properly and I must be able to log
Adams Rubble: Some days that is easier than others
Adams Rubble: On weekends I am more free form
Sylectra Darwin: Sure, but Adams, you are very good at keeping to the schedule. Much better than I am.
Adams Rubble: deal more with ideas than discipline
Adams Rubble: The blog is my discipline Syl
Sylectra Darwin: A very admirable trait! :)
Adams Rubble: I only have 3 entries so far today :)
Quilty Bookmite: I have no blog so you are beating me by some way. :-)
Adams Rubble: I think for me, often the week sets up the weekend for me
Adams Rubble: I think I have more insights then
Sylectra Darwin: My weekend repairs my week for me :)
Adams Rubble: I am doing the blog for myself Quilty
Quilty Bookmite: Maybe at the weekend you have more time to consider what happened during the week.
Adams Rubble: that too Syl :)
Quilty Bookmite: That is a good reason to do one Adams.
Adams Rubble: yes Quilty, my mind is more relaxed

Types Sideways had walked up to say hi but couldn't be induced to take time from his busy schedule to stay and visit.

Quilty Bookmite: Hi Types.
Adams Rubble: The past two weeks I haven't been able to atend sessions during the week
Adams Rubble: Hi Types:)
Types Sideways: hi there
Sylectra Darwin: join us?
Types Sideways: looks too serious for me
Sylectra Darwin: ah :)
Types Sideways: enjoy
Quilty Bookmite: :-)
Adams Rubble: We should have worn funny hats
Quilty Bookmite: If only he knew.
Adams Rubble: haha Quilty
Sylectra Darwin: I love funny hats!
Quilty Bookmite: I probably have some spare if you want one.

Quilty handed out hats to everyone present. I received one that was a tophat style in pink and green. We all immediately put them on.

Sylectra Darwin: ooh, thank you Quilty.
Quilty Bookmite: *sigh*
Quilty Bookmite: I'm not very good at the serious part. :-)
Adams Rubble: :)
Sylectra Darwin: Neato torpedo!
Quilty Bookmite: As Adams knows, I did an experiment recently. I decided to stop it because it became far too central. Every discussion I attended turned to this particular subject.
Sylectra Darwin: of hats?
Quilty Bookmite: I wondered if that was subconsciously what I meant to do, to draw attention to myself.
Quilty Bookmite: No. I tried a female AV for a little while.
Adams Rubble: It is a useful and informative experiment
Sylectra Darwin: I think it doesn't really matter. At least to me.
Sylectra Darwin: I was thinking of trying a male av - to explore fashion options.
Sylectra Darwin: haha
Quilty Bookmite: Thank you but it mattered because it was such a distraction from everything else here.
Adams Rubble: But it can become a distraction
Adams Rubble: yes
Quilty Bookmite: There are a lot less fashion options available to male AVs.
Adams Rubble: yes
Sylectra Darwin: It seems wrong.
Quilty Bookmite: That was the good part. I got to experiment with different clothes.
Adams Rubble: It is more fun to be female in SL but probably harder to be female in RL
Quilty Bookmite: Yes. Interesting isn't it?

Gaya and Fael arrived to chat for a few minutes.

Adams Rubble: Hello Gaya :)
Quilty Bookmite: It was a worthwhile experiment though. Just needed to stop it.
Adams Rubble: Hello Fael :)
Quilty Bookmite: Hi gaya.
Quilty Bookmite: Hi Fael.
Sylectra Darwin: Hi Fael
Fael Illyar: Hi Adams, Syl, Quilty :)
Sylectra Darwin: Hi Gaya
Sylectra Darwin: I like when I appear as a llama. Very freeing.
Gaya Ethaniel: _/!\_
Adams Rubble thinks llamas are fun
Sylectra Darwin: Fael I meant to compliment you on your fishies. They are lovely.
Quilty Bookmite: Yes. They are. :-)
Fael Illyar: Thank you Syl :)
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Quilty Bookmite: I meant Llamas are fun, but the fishes are lovely too.
Sylectra Darwin: they are all fun.
Adams Rubble: :)
Quilty Bookmite: So much for being too serious. :-)
Fael Illyar: what were you talking about?
Adams Rubble: Fael and Gaya, Types Sideways came and said we looked too serious to join us
You: well....laughter is like breathing. It resets things for a fresher perspective.
Fael Illyar: Nice hat Adams :)
Quilty Bookmite: This is our attempt to be less serious
Fael Illyar: oh, nice hats, all of you :)
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Sylectra Darwin: I love hat day!
Sylectra Darwin: Thank you Quilty!

Fael was wearing a number of fish which were floating around her head.

Quilty Bookmite: Is that a lamprey Fael?
Fael Illyar: lamprey? ... no idea, really :)
Quilty Bookmite: Looks like one I think. :-)
Fael Illyar takes a look at the object names
Fael Illyar: yes, one of them is a lamprey

Tara arrived and took a seat.

Fael Illyar: Hi Tara :)
Adams Rubble: Hello Tara :)
Tara Farmer: hey guys
Gaya Ethaniel: _/!\_
Quilty Bookmite: the one with the nasty looking teeth.
Quilty Bookmite: Hi Tara.
Tara Farmer: lol fael, a little fishy tonight
Tara Farmer: hey quilty
Fael Illyar: Fishies are nice :)
Tara Farmer: i especially like the sucker fish
Tara Farmer: so guess what guys?
Tara Farmer: I am now living in france
Quilty Bookmite: I can't guess. :-)
Adams Rubble: Great !
Quilty Bookmite: I think the sucker fish is the lamprey.
Quilty Bookmite: So cute and cuddly. :-)
Fael Illyar: Oh, france :)
Tara Farmer: hmmmm well i just wanted to sign in for a moment but i am actually going to sleep now
Fael Illyar: Ok, Good night Tara :)
Adams Rubble: night Tara :)
Quilty Bookmite: OK. Goodnight Tara.
Sylectra Darwin: OK Tara
Tara Farmer: good night folks
Sylectra Darwin: thanks for dropping by :)
Gaya Ethaniel: Thanks for dropping by Tara. Good night
Tara Farmer: ma plaisir madame
Sylectra Darwin: ooo, Francais!
Quilty Bookmite: I'm getting a lot of lag on my text.
Gaya Ethaniel wondered if Quilty was writing a novel
Quilty Bookmite: If only I had such talent. :-)
Gaya Ethaniel smiles. One never knows.
Sylectra Darwin: Maybe our hats are laggy.
Fael Illyar: my fishies are laggier :)
Quilty Bookmite: I was lagging before the fishies arrived.
Sylectra Darwin: Makes for great photos you guys, so thank you.
Sylectra Darwin: We need a poster.
Quilty Bookmite: NP.
Quilty Bookmite: I like that hat even better Adams.
Fael Illyar: very nice hat, yes :)
Adams Rubble: This one is more serious :)
Fael Illyar: that hat and serious don't quite belong in the same sentence somehow :P
Adams Rubble: :)
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Quilty Bookmite: It's a seriously funny hat.
Quilty Bookmite: How's that? :-)
Gaya Ethaniel is not having much success putting a hat on...
Adams Rubble: Funny what one can find in the inventory
Gaya Ethaniel: There finally a hat!

Fael was wearing a witch's hat. She also got a broom with it.

Fael Illyar has a hat too !
Adams Rubble: Very nice Fael :)
Fael Illyar: well, my hair is coming through it but can't be bothered :P
Sylectra Darwin: No big deal.
Quilty Bookmite: Very nice, both of you...
Gaya Ethaniel: ty Quilty
Quilty Bookmite: But if I may say so, Gaya's hat looks quite serious.
Adams Rubble: Oh now I see, nice Gaya :)
Sylectra Darwin: Wow Fael.
Gaya Ethaniel doesn't dare changing the hat with SL being so laggy
Quilty Bookmite: Adds to the effect.
Sylectra Darwin: Cool broom.
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Fael Illyar: came with the hat :P
Quilty Bookmite: Do you have a cackle to go with it? :-)
Fael Illyar: alas, no
Quilty Bookmite: the bird goes with the broom?
Gaya Ethaniel sees Fael floating in the air... with no hat while Adams and Quilty appear to be writing short stories
Fael Illyar: yep
Quilty Bookmite: Very nice. :-)
Fael Illyar: a shame, this looks rather nice :)
Quilty Bookmite: It could be that Fael is causing a bit of lag. :-)
Gaya Ethaniel: Ah
Fael Illyar: did it help that I removed them and reattached?
Quilty Bookmite: I think it may have done.
Fael Illyar: the evil witch and her army of fishies
Quilty Bookmite: Although I'm trying to change hats but can't.
Gaya Ethaniel smiles

Quilty had put on an entire galaxy of stars, which rotated about his head.

Fael Illyar: nice galaxy, quilty :)
Quilty Bookmite: Ah. It worked now.
Sylectra Darwin: wow, it's a galaxy on your head!
Adams Rubble: neat!
Sylectra Darwin: I got a pic!
Quilty Bookmite: Cool.
Sylectra Darwin: Quilty do you feel like the weight of the world is on you sometimes?
Quilty Bookmite: Sometimes much worse than that. :-)
Quilty Bookmite: The lag is bad.
Gaya Ethaniel can't see the galaxy...
Adams Rubble can't remember what we were discussing when we were serious
Quilty Bookmite: I think I had better go. Bed time.
Gaya Ethaniel: Good night Quilty
Quilty Bookmite: Ah. Sorry Gaya.
Gaya Ethaniel: _/!\_
Adams Rubble: night Quilty :)
Sylectra Darwin: OK, Quilty, thanks for the hat!
Fael Illyar: Good night Quilty :)
Quilty Bookmite: We were discussing the end of my experiment briefly.
Gaya Ethaniel 's texts are just not appearing...
Quilty Bookmite: But now I have to go. :-)
Gaya Ethaniel: Good night again Quilty
Sylectra Darwin: good night!