My Favorite Web2.0 tools. Dropbox and Tokbox.

Web 2.0 is the accumulation of off-site, web-based applications that allow the sharing and collaboration of data.  Theses new tools and products allow users the freedom to work and collaborate off-site in a more user friendly, and platform friendly, environment.

I have selected Dropbox as one of my tools that I will be working with in Web 2.0.  I use dropbox now for downloading photos to allow for the sharing of projects.  A forester at Trout Mountain Forestry and I cut down an Oak at Zena and he is turning it into a conference table for his office in Portland.

Cutting the selected tree.

Barry hauling away the selected Oak.

Benny at the mill making saw logs.

  We were all interested in capturing the project and so we have been photo documenting from the stage of tree selection to the eventual final product.  This includes the cutting and drying at a small family run mill in the Eola hills.  Today, that tree is in plank form and will dry for another three months.

This tool allows the user to share and collaborate on projects as well as store images off-site.

Tokbox is a great tool to share real-time events on video.  The "Watershed" tool allows the user to broadcast live and use interactive tools as well as save and share the broadcast for later use.  A great teaching tool that can allow a lecture to live on.

My mechanic ate my homework.

Four high school boys afflicted with spring fever skipped morning classes. After lunch they reported to the teacher that they had a flat tire.

Much to their relief she smiled and said, "Well, you missed a test today so take seats apart from one another and take out a piece of paper."

Still smiling, she waited for them to sit down. Then she said: "First Question: Which tire was flat?"

Google Drawing.

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 Our Google drawing is a great Web 2.0 tool that allows the creator of the document to very quickly allow for others to both collaborate and share.  We found that this is a tool could help to increase productivity(because of the very fast creation time when others were invited) as well as increase collaborative input.  I contributed to the group by applying some of the tools to the drawing and defining ways in which we could use Google Drawing in our presentation.

Understanding how we calculate unempoyment and Oregon's place.

Unemployment rate reporting changes in the US have created some problems in understanding the true nature of the social and economic impact of this very dynamic issue. 

Below is a list of the ways we look at unemployment in this country.

Consider using the U6 calculation which includes the displaced workers who might be delivering pizza instead of running a company.  While the income of such a worker is typically below the ability to support a family, this person would still be considered "employed" under the U3 calculus.  The U3 calculus also does not take into account those no longer looking for work. 

The BLS also calculates 5 alternate measures of unemployment, U1 through U6,^[65] which have been charted over time^[66][67]

• U1: Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longer.
• U2: Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary work.
• U3: Official unemployment rate per ILO definition.
• U4: U3 + "discouraged workers", or those who have stopped looking for work because current economic conditions make them believe that no work is available for them.
• U5: U4 + other "marginally attached workers", or "loosely attached workers", or those who "would like" and are able to work, but have not looked for work recently.
• U6: U5 + Part time workers who want to work full time, but cannot due to economic reasons (underemployment).

Note: "Marginally attached workers" are added to the total labor force for unemployment ratecalculation for U4, U5, and U6. The BLS revised the CPS in 1994 and among the changes the measure representing the official unemployment rate was renamed U3 instead of U5.^[68]
Statistics for the U.S. economy as a whole hide variations among groups. For example, in January 2008 U.S. unemployment rates were 4.4% for adult men, 4.2% for adult women, 4.4% for Caucasians, 6.3% for Hispanics or Latinos (all races), 9.2% for African Americans, 3.2% for Asian Americans, and 18.0% for teenagers.^[61] Also, the U.S. unemployment rate would be at least 2% higher if prisoners and jail inmates were counted (Wiki, 2010).^[69][70]

Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream

The place!

Last weekend I spent three days at Westwind attending this symposium.  My conservative friends have been known to call me a "crystal-gripping longhair hippy," but this brought a whole new meaning to the term! The video above was part of what I found to be the inspiration for attending, but it was far from what I expected as an educational experience.

Some highlights,

My cabin!

1. The first words said by the facilitator were that he was not really feeling well and he did not really know why that was.  The last words said by the facilitator as we closed out the three day event were similar and he added that if we could all just pray for him.....
2. A mouse pooped on my computer.
3. The food was terrible!
4. The cabins smelled like they had not been used in a year.
5. I was forced to hold hands with people for hours!
6. When they said Van Jones was presenting.... Well, you can see what we saw from watching the above video.
7. There is so much more......