One morning long before
Grown ups had raised a blind
I crept down to the shore
To see what I could find

The tide must never sleep
Because, during the dark
It rises up to sweep
The beach of every mark

There before me lay
Shells in an endless line
And all along the bay
No footprints showed but mine

Sometimes they vanished when
I walked into the sea,
And then appeared again,
Most mysteriously,

As if I were the first to land
On an undiscovered shore,
Which my footprints on the sand
Captured without a war.
by Geoffrey Dutton

Leaving Digital Footprints and Having Digital Tatoos

The world has changed radically since this poem was written. As Jaun Enriquez points out in this video we need to be careful how we walk and stop to consider how we are identifying ourselves and leaving permanent traces behind.

Stop to contemplate your current footprints in cyber space. To really demonstrate the weight of your print try the following exercise.

Make a footprint take off your shoes and socks and put your foot on your journal page. Trace your foot and then carefully draw in the toenails. OR Use the template provided!

Meditate upon your footprint and consider some of the digital footprints that you have left behind, the things that people will find out about you if they ‘Google’ your name. Take a moment and Google yourself!

On each toe, write an impression that you have made, a footprint that you have left behind.

Choose one toe and circle it. On the sole of your foot write more information about this particular event and why it stands out.

Now consider the footprints you are knowingly prepared to leave behind.

Sherry Turkle challenges us to keep things in perspective and make sure that technology is not changing our lives in ways which we will come to regret.

Have a conversation about where our infatuation with technology is taking us and, after having that conversation with another participant, collectively add a comment in the comment section.

And while you are at it! Following on from last week! Consider just what information our iphones are freely providing.

If you need to launch yourself online this is the course for you. We will work together to determine which tools are going to benefit you and your business. We will use the easily managed WordPress, blogging technology to establish an interactive web site that connects you to Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Pinterest or whatever other programs meet your specific needs.

Your six week journey, using your own computer, connected to our WiFi will take you on an adventure using WordPress. WordPress is an Open Source software system used by millions of people around the world to create beautiful websites and blogs. Originally WordPress was blogging software but since its creation a lot has changed. Today it is used by almost everyone looking to build a website, and has no real limit as to what can be done with a bit of learning. It is completely customisable by the use of themes and plugins; which can be easily downloaded from the WordPress site or from hundreds of other places around the web.

By the end of the course you will have:

• been guided, step by step, to set up a blog that is easy to administer and individualistically customize.
• made use of post and pages
• learned how to use widgets
• developed link-building Strategies
• discovered that you can have multiple users posting on your site
• come to understand safe cyber practices
• developed content writing skills
• learned how to create a digital portfolio
• discovered diverse, imaginative web applications to meet individual needs
• understood how to monetize your blog and promote your business
• learned about building niche communities and online groups
• helped to grow a Continuing Ed WordPress Community
• know more about Social Media Optimization
• And much more…

Aside from coming away with a greater understanding of the potentiality of web applications you will have skills that could be applied, working as, amongst other things, a publicist, freelance blog writer, a digital skills trainer, writing tech news for a company or as a web designer

This course suits a diverse range of individuals. Aside from butchers, bakers and candlestick makers this course will suit a range of visual artists seeking to establish an online gallery presence. It will also be ideal for hobbyists and those wanted to reach out and connect and  build niche communities.

Article: Potentiate Using Blogging
Blog Weaver As Mage

Despite having been written in 2007 the Wild Garden Advent Calendar still provides lots of ideas about how to use freeware imaginatively.

Creative Goldfields Blogging is a platform for showcasing the diverse work that can be done using blogging technology.

Heather has been working with blogging technology since 1999. To discuss unique, highly individual ways of applying blogging technology and social media applications you can contact Heather via heatherblakey at fastmail dot net.

One witty article cuts to the chase with the opening  “Since I’m a hypochondriac, every minor pain I suffer is invariably life threatening.  Every headache is a brain tumor. Every bout of indigestion is either stomach cancer or angina.  Every sore throat means I’ll need to have my larynx removed and wear one of those gizmos that’ll make me sound like Stephen Hawking, only it won’t make me any smarter.”

Then I found an article about the perils of googling when you are pregnant

“Pregnant? Did you know that loud concerts could damage your baby’s hearing? That some eye-drops could lead to birth defects? Or that long periods spent at high altitude could reduce your baby’s birth weight?

And don’t stress, as even mild levels of stress can affect foetal brain development.

How do I know all this? Because ever since the appearance of the blue line on the home pregnancy test, I have suffered from a common but poorly understood prenatal condition: Gestational Googlemania. It is a debilitating illness, characterised by the compulsive need to ask the internet about every conceivable pregnancy danger.”

rest of article

Sometimes a quick look at Google can save you from bundling the kids into the mini van for a trip to the Emergency Centre but generally it is wise to be cautious and protect your health by not looking up too much.

Continue reading this article

“Who would have thought being bored can be so productive? Slowing down and turning off all of the technology in our lives can be a great thing! Sometimes when we turn off our phones, computers and tv’s, we can actually feel ourselves turn off or wind down.”

Do you ever give yourself time to be bored? Do you find that slowing down helps you feel less stressed? What do you think are the benefits of putting down the iphone for more than a few hours a day?

Without reservation I say that Heather Blakey through her work at the Soul Food Cafe launched me on the road to daily writing and navigating the realm of the blogosphere.

Prior to 2006 I was plugging away at writing on my own static website. No one in my world knew diddly-squat about these things called “blogs” and certainly no one was reading my website. Then one day I fell into Heather’s magic Chocolate Box and started writing. One turn in her labyrinth led to another and then another and I ended up blogging on a regular basis with a delightful group of women (and a few men).

I have moved on to my own work here at the Perch, but I still keep in contact with many of my SFC buddies. Many of them are actively engaged in their own writing projects. I urge you to take a click on the links in my Blogroll on the left and see the handiwork of these wildly creative individuals.

According to the SFC website, the group is now closed, but Heather is currently working at Just Nous and Creative Foraging. Go there. Take a look around. Be inspired by Heather.

I was, and still am.

Lori Gloyd