Favourite Posts for 2008

In 2008 I didn't blog as much as I would have liked, but I still love blogging and will keep at it in the new year. Thankfully, my Royal Roads coursework provided some useful blog fodder. But of original blog posts, here are my favourite Glen' Farrelly Webslinger postings.

January

• Academic Research Online Is a Walled Garden - my dismay at finding out the amount of useful research and information useful to the Internet community that never makes it beyond the confines of academia and expensive academic journals

February

• Del.icio.us questions I can sink my teeth into - Delicious' remake made me love it all the more, in February I answered classmates concerns in an attempt to pass on one of my favourite cyber addictions

March

• Are Web Publishers Obsolete? - more and more of web production becomes routine and mundane I noted, so are website professionals as important?

April

• I'm Divided on the War for Net Neutrality - will Internet offerings end up packaged and limited like cable, this is an issue that will only grow in importance
  

May

• Oh CanCon! Should it stand on guard for Canadian Internet content? - Canadian Internet content is not all it should be, CRTC will examine the issue, do we need regulation or encouragement?
  

June

• Fun With Internet Memes - Weezer's video for "Pork and Beans" was an homage to famous Internet memes and helped us recall the great fun of such things as dramatic hamster and "Leave Britney alone!"
  

July

• Canada's Cyber Celebs - in honour of Canada Day, I compiled a list of those Canadians that have made an impact to the Internet, a project that appears is direly needed but has been done by no one else
• Pros & Cons of Managing a Website for a Small Company - as I leave my job of six years of managing a website, I wax philosophical. Good post for those considering a similar job.
  

August

• Six Random-ish Things - a trivial chain email afforded me the opportunity to list six facets of my Internet life
• Interview Questions for Prospective Website Managers - I prepare a list of questions to ask when finding my replacement, a useful list for those hiring who may not understand the requirements of this type of work
  

September

• Trumpeting Toronto Tech - blogging has opened doors for me and got me some great free tickets to events, including Toronto Tech Week. Yet despite the hype, Toronto's technology sector is lacking
  

October

• Why Internet communication is better than face-to-face - real life is over-rated, here's why

November

• Online TV Saves My Life - due to the inability to watch TV while at Royal Roads, I finally discovered the wealth of TV shows available online (and ashamedly, I didn't always use this new found power for good, ie. Gossip Girl)
  

December

• Practical Considerations for Online Accessibility - I was sponsored by the Internet Society to attend the Internet Governance Conference in India, where I learned a lot about website accessibility for the disabled
  

Some of my favourite essays that I posted online are:

• On Tags and Signs: A Semiotic Analysis of Folksonomies
• Negotiating Multifaceted Identity Online in Social Networking Websites
• Music Industry Does Not Know the Words to Digital Music's Songs
• Getting New Business from New Digital Media
• Social Internetworking How the Internet Can Help Organizations Benefit From Social Networking

The next seven months will be devoted to my thesis on website accessibility. I'll definitely blog about my progress and insights along the way and hopefully anything else that crosses my virtual path in 2009...