Sorry for the Lack of Updates

More blogs coming soon! I know I have fallen a bit behind (ok, more than a bit, over a month), but updates are coming soon!

I have been keeping track of my experiences, and I have a lot of information in my trusty Moleskin notebook that needs to be translated to the web. This includes pictures of the Great Barrier Reef, Cape Tribulation, Whitehaven Beach, Fraser Island...and much more!

After November 6th, I will be done with assignments and concentrating on a few key things:

1. Updating my blog! (including adding links, tags, photos, and maps)
2. Keep on learning! (SEO, Google Analytics, social media monitoring, creating MashUps)
3. FIND A JOB!

Until then, follow my tweets! (I often have to refer to them to remind myself what I do each day)

Day 68: Final Work before Vacation!

Ok, it's semi-crunch time today. Kristin and I leave tomorrow for our two week adventure. This means I have to get as much work done as possible on my Database Proposal, considering it is due only hours from when I return. I think I did pretty well. It will be organising the appendix and writing my user scenarios when I get back. I think I can pull this off.

My homework day ended around 5:30pm when I left for a SMCEDU Meeting at Jackson's on George by Circular Quay. Again it was a small turn out, but the four of us had another wonderful social media conversation. Doug Chapman, partnership director for SMCSYD provided useful insights to the local Social Media Club Chapter. I also got clued in to some other courses using social media, and got a few more names to look up. We concluded by deciding to set a date for a SMCEDU Meetup in three weeks to try to get more students involved. Unfortunately I will be gone for the first 2 weeks leading up to the event, so I hope we can get enough chatter going to recruit students to attend.

While our evening should have consisted of packing, we took a break and walked down to Darling Harbour with some friends. Lovely evening for a walk, but it definitely made me stay up much later than I needed to. Oh well, I have short plane ride to catch up on some sleep. Off to Cairns in the morning for our 2 week adventure!

Day 67: I tried, but mainly a Lazy Sunday

I sent Kristin out on her own today to discover more of Sydney, as I spent my Sunday in the computer lab. I didn't feel as productive today. I felt like I was running around in circles around the metadata standards. While I found IPTC for the news articles and photos, I was having trouble with videos and audio. I think in the end I will just have to compromise and take few standards from MPEG-7, just not many. I think I am doing a good job so far and I will get myself into trouble if I worry too much about a small portion of the proposal.

For dinner we went to Lansdowne to use a coupon that I had. It turns out the kitchen is closed on Sunday. Luckily for us they had a deal where you if you buy a drink you get free pizza! We took advantage of that, splitting a jug between us and enjoy mass amounts of pizza while listening to a live band and people watching. Pretty much the perfect Sunday night if you ask me.

Day 66: Manly Walk into the Night

Ok, I should have spent today doing schoolwork, I know. But I need to show Kristin what Sydney has to offer! And at the same time, I made sure we did something I haven't done yet :)

After looking through her Lonely Planet book for some local insight, we decided to take the ferry to Manly and take on the Manly Scenic Walkway. It is a 9 km walk fro Manly to to the Spit Bridge, along the coast and through some bush. http://www.openroad.com.au/travel_onfoot_thespittomanly.asp

Instead of telling you all about the gorgeous scenery, I'll show you with pictures. But I have a few titbits to add. The ferry ride was amazing, as expected. It reminds me of Marin, and makes me appreciate where I am currently and where I came from. Kristin said this was her first time on a ferry, which I couldn't believe! Once we were on the walk I loved how tranquil it was. At some points it felt like we were way out in the bush, or right on the ocean where there was no land for miles. And then you would turn a corner, and there was the Sydney skyline. Not bad, not bad at all. The natural surroundings were a great addition to our long conversations about life and our future. That seems to be on my mind a lot, and Kristin's as well since we both just graduated. One thing we concluded was that we better find jobs that we enjoy. Because if you spend 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year working, that is the majority of your time. What good is money if you aren't happy for most of the year?

So I forgot to mention that we had a late start, not getting to Manly until about 3pm. Now this walk is supposed to take about 3 to 4 hours. We are fast walkers, don't get be wrong, but we took the road less travelled several times, and took lots of pictures. Basically, it started to get dark, and we some how wound up in someone's backyard, getting scared out by a possum. Luckily for us, when we made it up to the road a woman had just pulled in. She basically told us we were screwed and it would be impossible for us to find our way back. But right then a man and his son pulled up, asking if we were lost (and if we were tourists). He said this happens a lot, and offered to drive us to the bus stop. Phew, saved by the dad! We eventually made it back safely, happy with our excursion and the stories to go along with it.

Day 65: #coffeemornings!

My day began with an early morning adventure to evangelise SMCEDU. Gavin Heaton, (@servantofchaos) showed interest in the initiative but can't make our meeting next week. He is however the organiser of #coffeemornings, a weekly gathering of social media enthusiasts in Surrey Hills. @cafedave is a regular attendee as well, so I wasn't as nervous knowing I would know a familiar face.

While I put the idea of SMCEDU out there, I didn't get too many biters. Everyone thinks it's a great idea, but I think it is hard for them to realise how they can get involved. On top of that, people already attend so many meetups and coffeemornings, it can be hard to fit another one into their schedule. I did get some names of people doing great things with social media and education that I will have to investigate. To name a few:
- Mark Smithers, Senior Manager, Teaching and Learning Support at RMIT University (www.masmithers.com)
- Jeremy Lebard - Book Tagger (www.booktagger.com, not quite SMCEDU, but cool concept)

Nonetheless, I met some great people and had good discussions. With a seat at the table I jumped into conversations and learned from the more experienced.

I also found out about GetUp!, an Australian grassroots activist organisation like MoveOn in the states. I love all the new things I learn about the world around me.

One key thing I took away from speaking with @RazChorev is that you never stop learning. After doing my information literacy report I have realised how important lifelong learning is for people in all fields. Grad school may not be the answer right away, as it can often be behind the trends. I need to keep reading blogs, attending conferences, and speaking with people to learn from my surroundings. He also emphasised just going out and doing probono work. This was a key concept in the Recession Proof Grad slideshow as well. As a young graduate looking for experience, I can offer services for free to establish myself and build up a portfolio. I like the idea of having a mentor, which I think is why I enjoy volunteering for things like Media140. I'm excited to see what comes of it!

After a fun filled morning of networking, back to Uni I must go. I worked on my media services database proposal, researching more about media monitoring. This is a really interesting topic to me, and I could see myself working in the industry. Instead of just doing it for commercial companies, I think it can be used for current events and global and political issues. I also like the fact that the news media uses the International Press Telecommunication Council (IPTC) metadata. I looked into this a while ago when I was interested in photo metadata. I think it has a lot of value and I am enjoying the opportunity to learn more about it. Of course I like the idea of monitoring the social web, but mainstream media is still an important stream of information, reaching a lot of people. I knew something good would eventually come out of this assignment! But now I need to do real work and put a good dent in my proposal so I can travel in a few days without worries!

Day 64: Kristin is...(5 hours later)...HERE!

Oh what an early morning it was. But I got up early enough and caught the train to Wolli Creek. Why Wolli Creek and not the airport? Well, the airport, being all high and mighty, charges an extra fee just for stopping there! This fee has to be paid when travelling by train, taxi, bus, or car, so there is really no way to avoid it. But - after some research I found that you can take the train one stop further to Wolli Creek and walk 2 km along the Creek to the airport to avoid the cost! I thought I might as well, see some more sites and save a few bucks. It was a nice walk on a very foggy morning. The creek was calm, and it looked like there was a waterski jump. Potential for wakeboarding? There is something I should look into.

I made it to the airport with no trouble and time to spare. Her flight was supposed to arrive around 6:15am, but I was giving her time to get through customs. And let me tell you, I gave her PLENTY of time. It turns our her flight was rerouted to Brisbane because of the fog! At first someone told me she might not come in until the evening, which I thought was absurd. And I almost brought a book to read... Instead, I spent hours on end reading through travel guides and learning health and money saving tips. Finally, by 5 hours later, at 12:15 she arrived!

After a long morning for both of us, we made our way back to my flat. It was good to just hang out for a while and catch up. It was surreal having Kristin sitting on my bed - I felt like I was back at home! It has been 2 months since I have seen my friends and family from the states, and here she was sitting right in front of me!

We ventured downtown to grab some food, until I realised I had a group meeting...oops! We cut our walk short, grabbed some Subway, and we parted ways. She went off to explore Darling Harbour, and I went to class.

When I got back from class we spent the remainder of the evening planning our trip. Well, not so much planning, as looking at some options and deciding, "we'll figure it out when we get there!"

Day 63: Some things done, more to come

Finally, one more thing to check off my list. We presented our report on information literacy today, and it feels good to be done. I think we did a pretty good job. Our substitute thinks we should have examined the policy issue from another angle, but it was too late to incorporate her ideas. We put in a lot of time to gather and prepare our information, and now that it's done, it's done.

After coming home and refuelling, I went to the library to do some research for my database proposal. Kristin comes tomorrow and I would like to do some site seeing with her, but of course school has to be my priority.

Since I have to get to the airport by 7:15am tomorrow, I'm making it an early night after cleaning up and preparing for Kristin's arrival. Goodnight!