Monday, August 25, 2008

How many list members does it take to change a light bulb?

At the risk of doing exactly what the post states... but it is useful to explain the impact of lists...

(pinched from Nancy White's Blog: August 25, 2008 from http://www.fullcirc.com/wp/2008/02/25/online-facilitator-humor/)

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How many list members does it take to change a light bulb?

  • One to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed.

  • Fourteen to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently.

  • Seven to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.

  • Seven more to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs.

  • Five to flame the spell checkers.

  • Three to correct spelling/grammar flames.

  • Six to argue over whether it’s “lightbulb” or “light bulb” … another six to condemn those six as stupid.

  • Fifteen to claim experience in the lighting industry and give the correct spelling.

  • Nineteen to post that this group is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb (or light bulb) forum.

  • Eleven to defend the posting to the group saying that we all use light bulbs and there fore the posts are relevant to this group.

  • Thirty six to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty.

  • Seven to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs.

  • Four to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL.

  • Three to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group.

  • Thirteen to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add “Me too.”

  • Five to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy.

  • Four to say “didn’t we go through this already a short time ago?”

  • Thirteen to say “do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs.”

  • Three to tell a funny story about their show dog and a light bulb.


AND

  • One group lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now with something unrelated they found at snopes.com and start the thing all over again.

Internet Mimes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme

The term Internet meme describes a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet.

http://www.dipity.com/user/tatercakes/timeline/Internet_Memes

An interactive view of the all the memes that swept across the internet and burrowed in our zeitgeist. Built from Wikipedia and Memelabs, open for you to add and maintain.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Microsoft Launches Free Photosynth for Combining Shots Into One Picture

From ACM TechNews, Friday, August 22, 2008. ACM TechNews (HTML) td {font-family: verdana, arial, geneva; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 1.2;} http://technews.acm.org

Microsoft Launches Free Photosynth for Combining Shots Into One Picture
Seattle Times (08/21/08) Romano, Benjamin J.


Microsoft Live Labs has released Photosynth, a free program that creates three-dimensional virtual environments, or synths, from overlapping photographs. Dozens of synths are available for viewing on the Photosynth Web site, including some from National Geographic, which assigned photographers to document wonders of the world such as Stonehenge using Photosynth. Photosynth group manager David Gedye says if the project is successful, then the researchers have invented a new form of media that is halfway between photos, computer games, and video that offers rich detail, user-controlled navigation, and cinematic qualities. Microsoft suggests that people create synths using from 10 to 300 photos taken specifically for Photosynth. The photos should cover the subject from all sides and from a variety of perspectives. A moderately powerful computer can calculate a synth from about a dozen photographs in about five minutes by matching elements they have in common to reconstruct the subject.
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