Classes

I’m also a Master’s student in Human-Computer Interaction at Georgia Tech. As a result, I get to take some excellent classes, many of which are a lot of fun! Some others (as usual) are not so great, but you find a way to get through them. For the most part, I’ve really enjoyed my classes. I’ve included a summary of my coursework below:

• Fall 2007
  • CS 6750 - Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction
  • CS 8803 - Usability & Accessibility of Online Media
  • PSYC 6018 - Research Design (and Cognitive Psychology)
• Spring 2008 (this semester)
  • CS 6455 - User Interface Design & Evaluation (aka Empirical Methods)
  • CS 7460 - Computer-Supported Cooperative Work
  • CS 8903 - Independent Study (under the Electronic Learning Communities [ELC] group)

Research

This semester, I’ve started work on a research project in the area of online communities. I can’t give you too many details, partly because it could screw up the project. (Uh oh…) After speaking with Dr. Amy Bruckman several times last semester, she offered me the chance to perform research with her ELC group on an independent project. As you can see, I jumped at this opportunity, and I’m currently working with Dr. Bruckman and one of her Ph.D. students. The project is a lot of fun (yes, fun research; imagine that, right?), and I really appreciate this opportunity to learn about online communities from all of the members of the ELC lab. If you get the chance to work with them, don’t pass it up!

Family

I live in the Tenth and Home apartment complex with my super-fantastic-okay-wow-number1-fun-excellent wife, Sarah. (No seriously, she’s really amazing. I had never planned to get married, but I married Sarah. That should tell you something, but it’s a whole ‘nother story.) My other family is spread pretty far and wide, and there are “factions” all over the place:

• Covington, GA (the base camp)
• Savannah, GA (the original base camp)
• Augusta, GA (the child care center)
• St. Louis, MS (the doctors)
• Los Angeles, CA (my actress aunt, her director husband, and their stand-up comedian son. No, seriously, folks!)

…and on and on the list goes, but I think that’s enough. My wife is actually Scottish, and it took me 3 months to understand her parents. Now that I do, however, I’m totally “in” with the Scottish crowd, and it really helps with my popularity at parties (woo hoo!). Her immediate family reside in Norcross, GA, but the rest of them still live in the UK. (In Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Manchester, in case you’re wondering!)

Sarah and I in Central Park, New York

Other

I used to be an Industrial Engineer, but it wasn’t really the right fit for me. Near the end of my IE program, I took a class called Human-Integrated Systems. This is basically the IE version of Human Factors, Ergonomics, or HCI. It really sparked my interest in the field, which is part of what motivated me to join this program.

As far as this blog goes, I usually cover topics related to upcoming technology, especially web-based applications and online communities. I’m a big fan of using technology for entertainment and education, so you’ll probably see that in my writing. I also talk about some completely random stuff from time to time, such as my new chair. (It really is a great chair!) Topics I won’t cover include such things as politics, relationship advice, or just random complaints or rambling. (You can get that everywhere else.) If you’d like to know more about me, please read my original introduction post or leave me a comment. Thanks for reading!

1) You don’t have to choose between 2 formats any more. This is because the film studios have mostly shifted their support to Blu-ray. One of the biggest studios (Warner Brothers) has already crossed over, and Paramount and Universal are expected to follow suit.

2) You don’t need to worry about buying the right/wrong disc player. Toshiba stated “it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders.” As such, your choices are pretty much limited to Blu-ray or nothing.

3) You don’t need to throw away your HD DVD player. Your old HD DVD’s aren’t going to stop working all of a sudden, so there’s no need to worry about your already-bought equipment. In fact, some movies that are available as HD DVD’s may not be available on Blu-ray for a very long time. (Some of them maybe not ever!) It could take a while for the manufactures to start producing the BD’s (Blu-ray Discs), so your HD DVD stuff wasn’t a waste.

4) There’s another option, and it doesn’t involve discs. If you don’t feel like investing in expensive hardware, you can still watch HD movies! If you own an Xbox 360, you can already rent full HD movies through Xbox LIVE Marketplace and watch them on your TV. If you have an Apple TV, you can rent HD movies from the iTunes Movie Store. An if you own a reasonably powerful PC or Mac, you have several options for HD video downloads, including both movies and TV shows. No discs required!

It’s also worth mentioning that this is the first major format war that Sony’s won. They had a lot riding on Blu-ray, and the amount of money they spent to win this war will take years to recover. (Don’t expect the price of Blu-ray hardware to be plummeting any time soon.)

If you already own a Blu-ray player, then this is all great news for you. If you own HD DVD equipment, don’t sweat it; your stuff wasn’t a total waste. If you’re thinking of buying new equipment, you may want to check out your no-disc options. For now, I’m waiting for the price of BD equipment to drop. It may take a couple of hardware revisions, but I can use my Xbox 360 or iTunes while I wait. What about you? How do you watch movies and television shows?

You see, my wife Sarah re-upholstered a couple of chairs for us right when we moved in. She did a really great job, but we never intended to use them as office chairs. When you’re a poor grad student, however, you’ll turn a trash can upside for a bench, chair, table, whatever. In other words, I didn’t want to spend my hard-earned cash on a new seat when these refurbished ones were already available. After sitting in one for 8 months, however, I began to change my mind. I’m very unusual in that when I’m doing certain things (sleeping and sitting in front of the computer included), my body’s core temperature goes berserk, and anything I’m touching gets really warm, really fast. As such, sitting on a basic cloth/foam seat makes me feel like I’m in a hot tub.

The original chair. It actually looks quite nice (minus the pillow/towel).

Last weekend, I decided to go for it. I wanted to buy a decent leather or mesh chair, because I’ve found that my insane body heat doesn’t seem to have such a profound effect on these materials. Fast forward several hours later (yes, it took 2 hours in Office Depot, just moving from chair to chair), and I finally found my new seat! Oddly enough, I didn’t go as crazy as I expected to. I walked away with a Carlin High-Back Leather Chair, and the best part is that I got a great deal on it! ($80.00 at the Office Depot near Kroger/Wal-mart/La Parilla on Howell Mill Rd.) They literally had about 30 chairs available for testing, so I nearly passed out from all the sit-down and stand-up motions. I had a very, very hard time deciding (as I suspect I’ll be using this thing for years to come), but so far I am very happy with my choice.

The new chair. Notice that I had to move the desk out for space?

The seat of the chair is very comfortable, giving plenty of cushion without letting you sink in. The back is great, providing support for both your lower lumbar (crucial) and a nice head rest. In all honesty, I don’t think I’ve ever been so comfortable sitting in front of a computer. (Let’s hope it doesn’t make me sleepy.) The build appears to be pretty solid, and nothing rattles, creaks, or groans when I sit. As far as durability goes, however, only time will tell. If you’re looking for a new chair and you wanna spend around $80.00, this is a great option. How about you? What kind of seat do you use in your office?

Immediately, I started thinking “I wonder if I can find a Mac equivalent, or maybe just virtualize it through Parallels?” Then the dummy factor wore off, and I remembered that Mac OS 10.5 (aka “Leopard”) includes an application called Time Machine. It’s bloody brilliant, and it actually uses very little processing power (imagine that, right?). It’s really more of an incremental backup system (as opposed to the image-based approach in DriveImage XML), and it works a bit differently.

Screenshot of Apple’s Time Machine

In fact, Apple’s strategy with this app has been working so well that they’ve just announced an external drive component called the Time Capsule. (Apple designers are amazing… gotta love that aesthetic and minimalist design!) But I digress… I’ve been told that Time Machine works with almost any storage device, whether it be internal, external, or even network-based. Amazingly enough, all of this is included for free with the Macintosh operating system, and I haven’t been using it! That’s how it works, though, right? I get this amazing tool that I’ve been needing for so long (the MBP), and then I forget to use half its functionality.

Anyways, don’t be like me and forget to back up your data. Regardless of your operating system, you’re going to need some sort of hardware to actually store your backups. There are a lot of options, and I’m currently trying to decide which one to use. Some of your choices include:
- Secondary internal hard drive
- Internal hard drive connected by an external drive enclosure
- External hard drive
- Network Attached Storage (NAS)
- Optical media (CD/DVD/BD) or old-school tape

I’ve even heard of some people using Amazon’s S3 service as a sort of network-based drive. If you’re using a Mac, it’s pretty clear that your best option is Time Machine. If you’re using a PC, however, you probably have more options than you know what to do with. Do you have a preferred way of backing up your data? If so, tell me in the comments!

If the developers are to be believed, then this is more than just a game: it’s a learning tool. Guitar Rising allows you to plug in any guitar and learn, practice, or rack up your score. It features a Guitar Hero-style accuracy mode (although not nearly as flashy, probably due to patents). Additionally, you can adjust the difficulty, tempo, and even the processing/effects to boost your entertainment (or education). Finally, the whole package comes stock with 30 songs, and they’re currently negotiating deals to get your favorite rock ballads onto the platform.

The developer, GameTank, is an independent game studio based in San Francisco. On their website, they state that “GameTank was founded to develop games that enable players to acquire real-world skills while being thoroughly entertained.” Will Guitar Rising live up to the hype? They’ve already won the Developer’s Choice Award for this game at the 2007 Independent Game Conference. Only time will tell, however, as the final product is slated to ship later this year (2008). Would you be interested in Guitar Rising?

*Note: Finder’s credit goes to Gizmodo, who provided the original coverage. To see a video of Guitar Rising in action, visit their posting or the official Guitar Rising website.

Most of these tools are freely available, and I’ve provided links so that you can use them as well. I won’t go into too much detail here, but if you would like for me to explain any of the information in further detail, I would be happy to do so. Without further adieu, here are the things that make JordanPatton.com work.

Web Presence

• Web Host: For starters, the web host that I use is LunarPages. I’ve been with them for just over a year, and so far their service has been extremely reliable and surprisingly good
• Domain: My domain (JordanPatton.com) is held by Yahoo! Small Business, with whom I’ve always had a very good experience.

Software

• Blogging Engine: The blogging engine I use is called WordPress, and it’s freely available to anyone who would like to use it. In my opinion, WordPress is probably the best blogging platform out there for people that manage their own web space.
• Theme: The theme that I run on JordanPatton.com was developed by Paul Stamatiou and Neil Patel. It’s called 281, and it’s a WordPress theme that combines “slick, minimalist aesthetics, speed, and search engine optimization.” If you’re just starting a blog, you may want to give 281 a try!
• Plugins: I use several plugins for WordPress that make the entire experience much better. Later, I may discuss some of these in greater depth, but for now here’s a basic rundown:
  • Akismet by Automattic
  • Full Text Feed by Ronald Heft, Jr.
  • Google Analytics for WordPress by Joost de Valk
  • WP-Cache 2.0 by Ricardo Galli Granada

Web Services

• I use several other tools to monitor traffic, serve up the pages, and perform other useful functions. A quick list includes the following:
  • FeedBurner for my RSS Feed
  • Google Analytics for monitoring traffic
  • Google Webmaster Tools to make sure my site is being indexed correctly
  • Technorati for some “popularity” metrics

Credit where it’s due

Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned about blogging come from Chris Pearson, who runs the blog Pearsonified. Chris is an exceptional web designer, and the excellent tips that he’s provided through his blog posts have proven invaluable. Furthermore, his companion project Tubetorial is a free resource that every new blogger should take advantage of.

So that’s a basic rundown of the things I use to keep this blog running. If you have any questions, or if you would like to hear more about any of these tools, please feel free to say so in the comments! I know that a lot of you probably manage your own blogs. So how about you? What kind of software do you use to run your website?

• Back up your drives while you’re using them.
• Access and modify the drive images with third party tools. (No more problems with proprietary archives.)
• Restore your drive images in real time. (Even while you’re using the drive!)

Unfortunately DriveImage XML only works in Windows XP, Server 2003, and Vista, but it’s hard to argue with the price tag since it’s completely free! Furthermore, it supports the most important Windows partition formats, including the ever-elusive NTFS. DriveImage also plays well with the Task Scheduler in Windows, so you can basically “set it and forget it.” I haven’t actually tested this program to date, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.

In my apartment, I currently have 3 computers running Windows XP, and my MacBook Pro runs Windows Vista through virtualization software. This solution wouldn’t be much help on the MBP, but it could save me a serious headache with the other machines. When I finally figure out what kind of hardware I want to use in my own backup system, I just might give DriveImage XML a try. And of course, if you’re looking for a backup solution, this might be the way to go!

*Note: The above screenshot(s) were borrowed from Runtime Software. All logos and trademarks are the property of Runtime Software.

Getting ready to start.

It’s worth mentioning that I have attended one other Google campus event, and it was a very different experience from this one. The first time was last fall, and it was more of a presentation format. Unfortunately, they underestimated the number of students attending, and the auditorium was filled to about double its capacity. (This is probably because it was open to everyone, and half the people that showed up hadn’t RSVP’ed. It was very entertaining to watch the stampede for T-Shirts at the end.)

This time around, Google really had it together. There were still several non-RSVP attendees, but it was actually pretty comfortable in the room. Furthermore, the question & answer format was very informative and relaxed. In this particular meeting, only graduate students were allowed to attend, which made the setting a lot more focused. (Last time, I bumped into freshmen. Seriously? Well, they did say “free pizza”.)

The panel in full swing.

One of the highlights of the talk was when the panelists discussed their favorite and least favorite parts of working for Google. Some of the answers are listed below:
+ “Good people”
+ “Smart, self-motivated people”
+ “Exposure to all different types of problems”
+ “You’re not a cog.”
+ “You’re allowed to be creative.”
- “There aren’t enough hours in the day to work on all the projects that I’m interested in.”
- “The company is very tight in keeping secrets, so sometimes we can’t talk about the cool projects we’re working on.”
- “Keeping up with email is overwhelming.”

If you’re thinking of working for Google, check and see if they’re headed to your campus any time soon. If so, they may already have job postings on your university’s career system. If not, simply head on over to Google Jobs. They have both full-time opportunities and internships for students. If Google is visiting your campus any time soon, I would highly recommend that you attend the job talk. Even if you don’t get there in time for pizza, you may walk away with a free T-Shirt!

*Note: I was given permission to take the above photos and write about the career panel by one of the attending Google University Program employees. Further information can be made available upon request. All Google logos and trademarks are the property of Google.

I should probably start by mentioning that this is not the first time I’ve set up a blog. It is, however, the first time I’ve ever done it for the right reason. The other couple of times I began to write web-logs, I did so because I felt like I was missing out on something. In other words, I did it because I felt like I had to. Understandably, the material I wrote was uninspired garbage.

This time, however, will be completely different! Now, I am doing this for the experience of learning. I want to learn what it’s like to write a blog, what it’s like to have a readership, and what kinds of benefits and responsibilities come with the job. This time around, it’s all about self-education, and I am all about self-education. (More on this later.) In fact one of my biggest motivators in life is education, and when I think I might learn something valuable, I find it very easy to put forth my best effort.

As a result, I’m not intending for this blog to become an income stream, nor am I planning to shout my opinions about the world to anyone who will listen. (You may see some advertisements here and there at a later date, but that’s because web hosting is expensive. Again, more on this later.) My plan is to write valuable content that is relevant to both myself, and whoever may be reading the blog. (If you have any suggestions for content, please feel free to contact me or post a comment any time!) To give you an idea, I expect my content to include the following:

• Reviews of products & services
• Information related to my experiences in online communities (and some “real-life” events)
• “How To” articles for technology and the like
• My take on certain news items, such as when a new product is released
• And other stuff as it comes along…

On the other hand, I will not be talking about the following things:

• Politics. Seriously, folks, do we need another person talking politics?
• “Why I Hate” articles. I don’t think you guys care that much about my pet peeves, so I plan to steer clear of them.
• My feelings or any personal “issues”. I’m not trying to solicit sympathy or “internet therapy”, so we’ll just avoid this subject.
• Relationship advice. I’m not the advice-giving type.
• Random updates about nothing in particular. If I don’t have something to say, I won’t waste your time.

That last point is particularly important. I don’t want to crank out posts simply because “it’s time to write another blog post.” I only plan to write when I have something worth saying. As a result, my posts may seem a bit sporadic. Fortunately, I’ve already taken measures to deal with this problem! If you don’t want to check this website every day, but you do want to know when I update the blog, you can subscribe to my RSS feed. (What is RSS? We’ll cover this in another posting!) I plan to learn as much as possible from writing this blog, and I would love to have your help in doing so. I welcome your feedback in the comments section, and thanks for following along!

Besides being the author of this blog, I am also a student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Currently, I’m studying Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) as a Master’s student. At this point, you’re probably wondering “What is HCI?”.  That’s a very good question, as HCI is pretty hard to define. For starters, it’s a cross-disciplinary subject that includes Computer Science, Digital Media, Psychology, and Sociology. It’s about any part of a technology “system” that interacts with the user. Want some examples? You got ‘em:

• The interface on a web-based application, such as Gmail or The Facebook.
• The display on your car’s radio.
• The dashboard in your car.
• The windows, icons, and cursor in Microsoft Windows.
• The dock in Mac OS X.
• Your cell phone.
• Systems that bring people together, such as MySpace, The Facebook, and World of Warcraft.

These are just a few examples to give you an idea, but as you can see Human-Computer Interaction is a very broad subject! It’s so broad, in fact, that I’m still exploring the field to make sure I pick the path that’s “right” for me. Right now, I’m thinking I would like to study online communities that promote entertainment and education. (Think Wikipedia, World of Warcraft, etc.) This semester (Spring 2008), I’m working with the Electronic Learning Communities to learn more about the field.

In much longer-term plans, I am interested in becoming a professor at a technology university. I would like to do research, but I am also very interested in helping other people get a great education. (I believe that bad education is the source of many societal problems, and better education is the key solving them!) My own education was not very fun or easy, but I think that making the academic world a better place would be a huge step toward making the whole world much better.

A few of the other key points about me include:

• I am married to the only person I would ever marry, Sarah Patton.
• I live in the city of Atlanta, which is rapidly moving up in the United States.
• I used to be an Industrial Engineer, which wasn’t the right fit for me.
• I was once a martial arts instructor, but that was a very long time ago.

Anything else you want to know? Feel free to leave a comment below! Stay tuned for further updates.