Speaking at TEDx Tampa RiverwalkVirtual Tourism as the New Geography ClassLast week I had a wonderful experience. I was asked to present at the Tampa Riverwalk TEDx Event at the John F Germany Public Library. In this post I will share some photos and slides from the event and in a few weeks when the recording comes available, I'll return and embed the presentation. A special thank you goes out to my crew involved in Beautiful Nation Project, especially the dynamic Tonia Lovejoy for helping with putting my talk together.Photos from TEDx Riverwalk EventYou can view all of the photos from the event here on Flickr or just the photos of myself on stage here.Background on My TopicSpeaking ...
Posted Nov 24, 2014, 2:30 PM by justin b farrow
Two Things Time Forgets in One PlaceIn Celebration of Surveying and Street ArtThere
are two things which time forgets that have remained up front and
center to my work for over 10 years. The first is the importance of
professional land surveyors to society and surveying history to modern
day surveyors. You can see my passion for public awareness in my Land
Surveyors United project. The second thing that is forgotten by time is street art in urban
environments. You may not be able to believe that such a place could
exist where the two have ever been intermingled, but you'd be wrong. To
the right is an ironic photograph of a piece of street art that I shot
on my last visit to ...
Posted Jul 19, 2014, 4:11 PM by justin b farrow
Project: Australian Wine Tasting CommunityWorld's First Wine Tasters Online CommunityWhat's better than drinking a nice bottle of wine with your friends?
Being knowledgeable about the wine you're drinking and sharing it with
the world! This is exactly what is happening over on the Australian Wine Tasting Group (aka AWTG.org). I figured it was about time to share this terrific new-ish
project with you all. I'm going to briefly tell you about AWTG
community which I have been building on the Ning platform, share a few
of the exciting features and tell you how to get involved.But
before I do, I'd like to tell you why I decided to take on this
project. I do not ...
Posted Jul 19, 2014, 4:24 PM by justin b farrow
Bob Marley Episode of Ras Dave ShowBob Marley Episode of The Ras Dave ShowJust finished listening to the special Bob Marley episode of The Ras Dave Show on Randy's Reggae Radio for the 3rd time since Wednesday. I must say that this is one of my favorites so far. Many of you who follow reggae music may know about Ras Dave and the Ras Dave Show sponsored by VP Records. Rare Bob Marley SongsNo where else online will you be able to find some of the rare version of Bob Marley Songs played in this episode. And don't forget to check out Ras Dave's Lullu Dubs, reggae music for babies!
S3,E4 TheRasDaveShow (Bob Marley Episode) by Therasdaveshow on Mixcloud
Posted Mar 15, 2014, 6:08 PM by LoftnInja UNrealtor
RSS Feed Import Possibilities for Ning 3.0RSS Feeds for Ning 3.0At the present moment, there are two things that Ning Network creators know regarding RSS possibilities on 3.0 platform. Ning 3.0 does not currently have RSS Feed Modules like 2.0Ning framework has Jquery built in.UPDATE: Ning 3.0 is now equipped with RSS Feed Modules and they are SWEEEET!!! Post coming soon!And
due to the fact that nothing clear has been offered by Ning about
whether or not we will have RSS feed import capabilities on Ning 3.0, I
have been experimenting with possible other ways to import feeds into
Ning 3.0 pages. And having figured out how to embed Codepens into
GSites, i though I ...
Posted Jun 21, 2014, 2:32 PM by Jaybird Farrow
justiNYC Blog - my daily blog as a Brooklyn real estate broker maintained from 2005-2010 URbanFOTO- Daily photo blog maintained 2003-2005 Ninjalist - Chronicles of the Loftninja
posted Nov 24, 2014, 2:18 PM by justin b farrow
[
updated Nov 24, 2014, 2:30 PM
]
Virtual Tourism as the New Geography Class
Last week I had a wonderful experience. I was asked to present at the Tampa Riverwalk TEDx Event at the John F Germany Public Library. In this post I will share some photos and slides from the event and in a few weeks when the recording comes available, I'll return and embed the presentation. A special thank you goes out to my crew involved in Beautiful Nation Project, especially the dynamic Tonia Lovejoy for helping with putting my talk together.
Photos from TEDx Riverwalk Event
You can view all of the photos from the event here on Flickr or just the photos of myself on stage here.
Background on My Topic
Speaking at Tampa Bay Riverwalk TEDx Conference on "Virtual Tourism as the New Geography Class" Educators around the globe are moving from “lower-tech” learning environments to “higher tech” learning environments as mobile devices, broadband Internet and satellite coverage become more affordable and accessible. This creates a growing need for professional development, and opportunities to leverage existing technologies of access, among educators internationally.
There are also curricular tensions facing educators globally. As the gap between the technical proficiency levels of educators and their students widens, so does the educators effectiveness as a communicator and mentor. Combine these realities with rapid population growth (‘not enough books, not enough desks’), limits on natural resources (access to clean water, air, food), geopolitical and sociopolitical challenges (civil war, recessions, natural disasters), and GEOSOCIAL NETWORKING becomes a CRITICAL TOOL for educators to not only communicate with each other, but to better communicate with their students.
In an effort to better prepare educators for success, and help them to teach global competence skills, we utilize the core geographic literacy assessment tools of our sponsor nonprofit, Reach the World. In 2003, RTW asked the question, "How do young students learn to draw an accurate map of the world?" The National Geographic Education Foundation funded the research, and RTW partnered with Columbia University Teachers College to conduct the research at public elementary schools in New York City. What we learned is that learning to draw an accurate map of the world requires cognitive development - skills like spatial relations, nesting, scale, size and orientation - and that those skills can be improved upon when a personal connection is made to a geographic location.
Geographic literacy is more than places on a map. It is a deep awareness of the interconnectedness of our world cultures and societies, economics and natural resources. It means conjuring up a mental map in your mind that is both accurate, and empathic. It is the key to effective virtual collaboration and can be taught through geosocial networking.
posted Jul 19, 2014, 3:59 PM by justin b farrow
[
updated Jul 19, 2014, 4:11 PM
]
In Celebration of Surveying and Street Art
There
are two things which time forgets that have remained up front and
center to my work for over 10 years. The first is the importance of
professional land surveyors to society and surveying history to modern
day surveyors. You can see my passion for public awareness in my Land
Surveyors United project. The second thing that is forgotten by time is street art in urban
environments. You may not be able to believe that such a place could
exist where the two have ever been intermingled, but you'd be wrong. To
the right is an ironic photograph of a piece of street art that I shot
on my last visit to Brooklyn, NY. This is an interesting piece of
street art in Brooklyn, NY featuring
what looks to be a surveyors level rod, slightly altered to look like a
vertical eye exam. I found this work to be incredibly relevant to the
situation current and future land surveyors face. The surveying world
itself at times fails to recognize the importance of remembering their
own history. Many times, I have considered writing a paper explaining the various reasons for why both the public and the professional have forgotten the importance of surveyors to society.
In the following interactive web experiment, I
have mashedup an imaginary art gallery, with walls lined with surveying
history books and antiquated surveying equipment and tools. Clicking
the foot prints on the floor will take you on a short journey where you
will get a chance to see evidence of some magnificent street art images
that I have captured during my years of living in New York City. As I
attempt to preserve these historical artifacts, I hope to always be able
to convert my findings into something that others who are interested
might be able to enjoy. There are so many philosophical ties between the two, aside from the obvious land ownership aspect to the discussion. I hope we can be more mindful of what we are destroying for the future, but unfortunately this may never be the case.
posted Jul 18, 2014, 4:19 PM by Jaybird Farrow
[
updated Jul 19, 2014, 4:24 PM by justin b farrow
]
World's First Wine Tasters Online Community
What's better than drinking a nice bottle of wine with your friends?
Being knowledgeable about the wine you're drinking and sharing it with
the world! This is exactly what is happening over on the Australian Wine Tasting Group (aka AWTG.org). I figured it was about time to share this terrific new-ish
project with you all. I'm going to briefly tell you about AWTG
community which I have been building on the Ning platform, share a few
of the exciting features and tell you how to get involved.
But
before I do, I'd like to tell you why I decided to take on this
project. I do not drink a lot of wine myself, so this community
development is partly an anthropological exercise but mostly inspired by
the passing of one of my best friends on the planet, Shannon Locke.
Shannon was from Australia and loved expressing his knowledge of wine.
Shortly after his abrupt passing I received a call from Big Teddy, a
Ning Community Owner who found me through my Ning Help page.
His vision and direction for what he wanted his community for wine
tasters to look like and feel like were rock solid and so in memory of
my late great friend, I decided to start work on it. Fast forward a few
months and you see the world's first community exclusively for the Wine
Tasters of the world take form. If Shannon were around today, he would
be uploading photos of bottles everyday and sharing his love for grapes
and good wine with the world! I have packed a lot of love and quite a
few uncommon or first-of-their-kind features inside this growing
community and I believe that he is smiling down upon it everyday.
If You Like Wine, You're in Good Company!
Members of the Australian Wine Tasting Community are not all from Aussie Country..they are from all around the world! We have both professional and amateur wine tasters, grape farmers, winery owners, Wine Vendors and More! If you happen to have a taste for wine, but need to brush up on the terms used for describing the wine you are drinking, we've got you covered. I have built in a custom Wine Dictionary App which can be accessed from the toolbar on every page of the network.
This is a great tool for learning more about Wine Terminology, which will obviously make you sound a lot cooler at the next local wine tasting event.
Rate Your Wine Bottles
Let's picture a nice evening with friends. You're about to open that bottle of wine that you've been saving for a special occasion. Before you pull that cork, you remember that you can preserve this moment forever by simply snapping a photo of that bottle and uploading it to AWTG Wine Bottle Photos. But wait, it gets better! After you've finished the bottle, you can come back and Rate Your Wine Bottle! You can then search and find other bottles shared by members and rate how those tasted as well! Just bookmark AWTG.org on your mobile browser and you'll never forget those moments again.
Learn About Wine From the Pros
There are several areas of the community where you can ask questions about wine and get answers from the pros. One of the best ways to keep up with trends in wine is to brush up inside the Wine Taster's Theatre, where only the best wine related channels from Youtube and Vimeo have been conveniently imported all in one place for you.
posted Mar 15, 2014, 5:44 PM by LoftnInja UNrealtor
[
updated Mar 15, 2014, 6:08 PM
]
Bob Marley Episode of The Ras Dave Show
Just finished listening to the special Bob Marley episode of The Ras Dave Show on Randy's Reggae Radio for the 3rd time since Wednesday. I must say that this is one of my favorites so far. Many of you who follow reggae music may know about Ras Dave and the Ras Dave Show sponsored by VP Records.
Rare Bob Marley Songs
No where else online will you be able to find some of the rare version of Bob Marley Songs played in this episode.
posted Feb 12, 2014, 4:51 PM by LoftnInja UNrealtor
[
updated Jun 21, 2014, 2:32 PM by Jaybird Farrow
]
RSS Feeds for Ning 3.0
At the present moment, there are two things that Ning Network creators know regarding RSS possibilities on 3.0 platform.
Ning 3.0 does not currently have RSS Feed Modules like 2.0
Ning framework has Jquery built in.
UPDATE: Ning 3.0 is now equipped with RSS Feed Modules and they are SWEEEET!!! Post coming soon!
And
due to the fact that nothing clear has been offered by Ning about
whether or not we will have RSS feed import capabilities on Ning 3.0, I
have been experimenting with possible other ways to import feeds into
Ning 3.0 pages. And having figured out how to embed Codepens into
GSites, i though I'd share a few of my solutions. The following pens simultanously loading may cause loading to time out, so if you looking at a pen that will not load, simply click "Re-Run" as shown to the right.
Please Note: I am not saying that Ning 3.0 networks will not eventually get RSS feed functionality. All I am saying is that there may be more options than you may know for ways to import a RSS feed to a Ning Network Page. If you need help with your Ning network, let me know.
posted Feb 10, 2014, 12:02 PM by LoftnInja UNrealtor
[
updated Feb 15, 2014, 7:51 PM by Jaybird Farrow
]
How to Build a Horizontal Accordian for Ning
Last week a client asked me how difficult it would be to create a simple accordion style slider for featured content on their Ning network. We ended up going with something different, but the result I came up with is still very useful and easy to implement into your Ning 3.0 Network. This is what we are creating.
Step One: Add the Following Code to a Text Box
<form> <ul> <li> <input id="rad1" type="radio" name="rad"> <label for="rad1">1</label> <div class="jfslide"> <h2>Slide 1</h2> <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Praesent euismod ultrices ante, ac laoreet nulla vestibulum adipiscing.</p> <img src="http://lorempixum.com/420/200/city/1" alt=""> </div> </li> <li> <input id="rad2" type="radio" name="rad"> <label for="rad2">2</label> <div class="jfslide"> <h2>Slide 2</h2> <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Praesent euismod ultrices ante, ac laoreet nulla vestibulum adipiscing.</p> <img src="http://lorempixum.com/420/200/city/2" alt=""> </div> </li> <li> <input id="rad3" type="radio" name="rad"> <label for="rad3">3</label> <div class="jfslide"> <h2>Slide 3</h2> <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Praesent euismod ultrices ante, ac laoreet nulla vestibulum adipiscing.</p> <img src="http://lorempixum.com/420/200/city/3" alt=""> </div> </li> </ul> </form>
posted Jan 29, 2014, 6:51 PM by Jaybird Farrow
[
updated Jul 18, 2014, 5:47 PM
]
Embedding Google Drive Folders
When
searching the Google Drive Support website, I can find no explanation
of how to embed an entire Google Drive folder into a website page.
However, I was able to find a simple way to add a drive folder to a
Google Sites page. Nevertheless, what I was looking for is a way to
embed a drive folder into a Ning Network and after figuring this out, I
wanna share. So, below you will find both my workaround for hacking it
into a web page and the solution for embedding a Google Drive Folder
into a Google Sites Page.
Grid and List Views
Embed Google Drive Folder into a Ning Webpage
Google Drive folders can be embedded and displayed in list and grid views:
Simply share your Drive Folder to "Anyone with the Link" so that it
shows up in the page you embed it in. Now look in the address bar for
the FOLDER-ID and replace it in the cod above.
Example: If you have a folder address like this:
https://drive.google.com/?tab=mo&authuser=0#folders/0B4wHVemz7IveTFRBTnRHcHBmTEU
Folder
ID will be: 0B4wHVemz7IveTFRBTnRHcHBmTEU
Example for List View:
Google Drive List View
Example of Grid View:
Google Drive Embed Grid View
Embed Google Drive Folder into a Google Sites Page
Just open the Sites editor, Insert>Folder and select the checkbox
next to the folder you want to appear. Modify the gadget properties box
to meet your requirements, click Save and then Save your page and you're
done.
Here is a short video on how to embed a Google Drive Docs List into a
Google Site.
Embed a Google Drive Folder into Google Sites
Further Learning
Philridout also has a tutorial on how to accomplish this using Google Apps Scripts here.
posted Jan 5, 2014, 4:57 PM by Jaybird Farrow
[
updated Feb 7, 2014, 12:21 PM by LoftnInja UNrealtor
]
Mapping Members of a Ning Community
So you've got your Ning network setup and members are finally starting
to join and engage with one another. Now What? Map your members of
course! What you are making...
Back in 2010, I showed you how to map your members on Ning 2.0,
but this process needed a little bit of updating. If at any time you'd
like some help with mapping your Ning network members, simply send me a request. I'm happy to help..
Keep These Things in Mind:
The only way this will work is if you have a question in your
profile questions which asks for exact location, geodetic coordinates or
similar.
This will have to be reprocessed in the following fashion EVERYTIME you want to update your map
This will only work as a top level admin or NC
Its best to have a Gmail or Google Account to complete this tutorial, so get one if you do not have already.
For networks with less than 1000 members, the process described in my last post using Mapalist should do just fine.
Steps for Mapping Your Members:
Short Steps for Mapping Your Members:
Export your member data
Import the CSV to google docs
Convert spreadsheet into a fusion table
Geocode the Location Column
Set privacy to anyone with link
Embed in a page..
Steps for Mapping Explained:
Export your member data
- Go to the admin dashboard of your network and go to the Member
Management section, scroll to the bottom right and you'll see a link to
"Export Member Data". In a few minutes you'll recieve an email with
your member data. Download that spreadsheet/csv file to your computer.
Import the CSV to google docs-
Now import that spreadsheet to google drive/google docs converting it
into the google spreadsheets or CSV format. Try to make sure that ALL
COLUMNS HAVE AT LEAST SOME DATA IN THEM because if you have too many
empty cells in the spreadsheet, it will not process in the next step.
Now assuming you do not want all of your member data to be public,
you'll want to delete a few of the columns such as Email,Recieving
Broadcasts, Date Joined, Age, Gender... these will be entirely up to
you. Now click Share> Anyone with the Link
Convert spreadsheet into a fusion table- Create a new fusion table like so:
*If you do not have fusion tables you can add them as a Drive app by clicking Create>More Apps and find Fusion Tables App.
*Sometimes when creating a fusion table and trying to import strait
from Google Docs, you'll get an error. When this happens, go to the
spreadsheet and click File> Download As> CSV File then reupload
that csv file to the Fusion Table Interface.
Geocoding the Data
Geocode the Location Column-
Now that you have your spreadsheet converted into a Fusion Table, click
File> Geocode and select either the column for "Location" or
"Country" and let this process run while it converts the Location names
into Latitude/Longitude. Networks with many members will obviously take
longer than smaller networks. Setting privacy to anyone with link will
allow you to embed your map into a page on your network.
Embed Map into a Page - Now you can embed your map by clicking Map of Locations>Publish and grab the HTML to embed as Iframe.
Updating the Member Map
- From time to time, you'll want to repeat this process again to update
the map. The best way to do this is to repeat the process and then go
to File>Merge and merge the new table with your former table.
Customizing Your Info Boxes for Member Map
There are a variety of ways that you can customize the display of
your map and placemark info, which I can cover in future posts, if
requested in the comments below. In fact I can think of a few follow up
posts which could be helpful such as Exporting the Data as KML for
Google Earth, Adding custom icons, styling the info window, adding a
search field...the sky is the limit! If this process looks daunting to
you, I am happy to help you map your members for you for a small fee and
you can send me a request through my profile.
Enjoy Creators and let me know your thoughts below...
posted Dec 20, 2013, 12:20 PM by LoftnInja UNrealtor
[
updated Feb 7, 2014, 11:33 AM
]
Your Members Are Confused!
Show them the Way, in Style!
A few weeks back on the Creators Forum,
I anticipated quite a few Ning Creators needing strategically placed
indicators for showing their members how to use the new framework. So I
am offering the following animated hints for free to those who might
like to use them for instructing members regarding use of the various
features inside Ning 3.0. Of course you might like to make your own
(you can find the tool I use here),
in which case those posted here may be a good checklist for hints you
might consider making yourself, showcasing your own Ning network
design. You might like to bookmark this page, as I will add more
animated gif hints for Ning 3.0 networks as I create them myself.
posted Nov 26, 2013, 12:47 PM by Jaybird Farrow
[
updated Feb 7, 2014, 11:34 AM by LoftnInja UNrealtor
]
Full Steam Ahead for Beautiful Nation
The Beautiful Nation Project is running full steam ahead this week, kicking off our Indiegogo Crowdfunding campaign,
in order to produce our pilot webisode. This will be the most
effective geography course in the world, with your help! Beautiful
Nation tracks the Voyage of Makulu. I
am incredibly serious about doing something positive for the world and
although I do not currently have children of my own, many of you (whom I
love and respect) do. For over a year, I have been working remotely
with my colleagues on Beautiful Nation Project in order to create a more
meaningful experience for your kids in terms of their #education in
#geography. This is why #imontheboat.
The boat is Makulu. Makulu
is a 43 foot Nautor Swan Ketch Sailboat/ floating classroom which has
been the primary vessel and venue, chartered by Reach the World since
1998, bringing the world to the classroom through traveling mentors.
With our partners RTW and Agastya International Foundation , the journey
is charted and planned for 2014. Back on land, I will be playing the
role of Lighthouse Keeper and Social Network Manager within the virtual
tour/social network which represents the boat, categorizing the content
into multidimensional education tools and micro-courses in geography.
This network is for anyone who would like to learn more about places
they may never visit. The conversations about those places will teach
the leaders of tomorrow to respect the environment, appreciate diversity
and engage others as global citizens.
5 Continents | 35+ Countries | 45 Planned port stops | 700+ Expedition days | More than 1 Million Student followers
Connecting Students to Their World- Beautiful Nation Project
About the Crew and Krew
Our Qualifications
There is not another all-female
sailing crew on the planet with the skills, passion, resources and
experience necessary to launch a global expedition for education! This
is a vetted model, first launched in 1997 by the founder of Reach the
World, and 3 of the 4 crew members participated in the last
circumnavigation of Makulu.
Through our education partners, our
content has a strong framework of internationally-recognized best
practices for global competence instruction and hands-on science. Plus,
we already have hundreds of schools ready to participate!
In
addition to having the professional skills and expertise needed to
produce the content, we are conscientious of the logistical challenges
in order to get content up online in a timely manner.
The ship
has been generously donated for the voyage and we have spent over a year
diligently planning. In other words, we’re not quitters! This is our
labor of love, and we will do everything we can to make it happen.
But
we can't do it alone, and need your support. Help bring news about the
beauty and diversity of our world into the homes and classrooms of
children and make a donation today!
