DITA Session 1 Review

Good morning!  I'm in the lab now after Session 1 of DITA.  We were instructed to create a blog or use a current blog if we have one, as a part of our coursework.  This is intended to be a recap of what we've learned during the week and will help us when it's time to turn in our culminating coursework at the end of the semester.

Today's session was an introduction to the module and an introduction to computing.  We discussed information and its impact.

• We are an information society
• defined by data
• changes in information affect individuals and organizations
• According to thye 2003 Lyman report, humans generate up to 5 exabytes of information per year
• So, as information professionals, we need to understand the techonology that handles this data in order to organize the information to manage and/or prevent information overload.

An analogy to describe Information Professionals:

We look at architectures, not just individual computers.

bricklayer vs. architect: the latter has a broader understanding of the buildings.

So... I don't need to be a programmer and understand the nitty gritty of the technology side.  I need to understand the information side and its organization.

We also talked about the levels of representation in computing:

• digital is discrete as opposed to continuous.  It's either on or off.
• bit - is represented by either 1 or 0.
• This can be used for numbers/counting, characters, letters/words, etc.
• byte - sequence of 8 bits
• kilobyte - 1024 bytes
• megabyte - 1024 kilobytes
• gigabyte - 1024 megabytes
• bytes are stored on disks or other storage devices.
• store magnetic charges = + ve/ - ve

Formats
Agreed upon structures - ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
ASCII - binary numbers to characters

• 7 bit strings
• 128 different characters
• Ex:
• A: 10000001
• J: 10001010
• N: 10001110
• JAN: 100000011000101010001110
• This only uses the US alphabet.
• higher level of encoding than binary numbers

Files - named collection of digital info

• uses the "office" metaphor
• text file = ASCII characters online
• file names have meanings: jpg, xls, docx, ppt

file centered approach

• files as single entities
• naming conventions
• mark-up for metadata: file type

files

• file structures
• files as related entities
• named collections in folders/directories
• hierarchal

Documents
Document centered approach

• building documents from file
• different media
• related to multiple files
• network/Internet

Later on we will discuss this aside:

What is a document?

September 6

Hello there... I'm sure you've missed me.  :o)

The last few days have been interesting.  Saturday was spent roaming about Kentish Town trying to buy supplies for the house and running other errands. I bought a mattress to fit my inherited IKEA bedframe.  However, it turns out that IKEA makes custom sized furniture, so my mattress is a standard size 4 x 6 (or something to that effect) double with an odd-sized bedframe.  There are a few inches on either side of the mattress, but it doesn't matter.

I went to the movies down in Brixton.  The theaters are quite small compared to the US and the chairs are much more comfortable.  I was comfortably close to the screen so I didn't have to wear my glasses.  I saw Inception and I was pretty impressed.

Sunday was spent lounging around the house, a little bit of internet church, and then Courtney made a mini, early Thanksgiving Dinner to show her UK friends how we Americans get down.  So, I spent the rest of the evening eating and hanging out with Courtney and her friends.

Today was most interesting because I ventured back to Oxford Circus in search of Primark.  I needed bedding and other items for my room and Primark was the most cost effective and stylish way to accomplish this task.  I took the right bus to Oxford, but then walked in the wrong direction for quite a ways.  Finally, I asked someone to point me in the right direction and then I kept asking people along the way until I found it.  Once I got in there, I had to interpret the English to figure out what the heck I was trying to buy.  For example, you can't buy a comforter set for your bed.  It's a duvet set that comes with a duvet cover.  I didn't know what a duvet was, so I obviously didn't understand the reference to the duvet cover.  So, a duvet is the cushion/blanket that you buy separately and then buy duvet covers to go over it.  Anywho, after several questions, the sales guy said, "you're not from here, are you?"  I wanted to say "DOUBLE DUH!!!", but I settled for a smile and "No, I'm not."

So, I'm loaded down with all this stuff and tasked with trying to figure out how to get back to the bus while it was raining.  Once I finally get there, I get on the bus going in the wrong direction!!!  I got on the bus on the opposite side of the street in which I arrived, but apparently that wasn't the right thing to do.  Anywho, I took a tour of the city according to the C2 bus route and finally made it back home.  On the way home I saw a Whole Foods Market which I went back and visited after I put all my other bags down.  It is super duper expensive. I bought two cooked chicken breasts from the deli that cost 7.90 GBP!!  What the heck?  Anywho, that's the first and last time that I'll be doing that.

Goodnight.

Day 3: Technically day 3 and yesterday was actually Day 2

Welcome back... I still have 13 minutes left in Day 3 so I'm going to try to get it all out in these last few minutes.

Today was very productive although I got off to a late start.  I left the flat shortly before noon with a mission of getting to school, picking up a letter so that I can establish a bank account, buying comfortable walking shoes, etc.  So, I took the Tube to school and found it without a problem.  I was the only one in line at the Student Center so I got my letter pretty easily.  I went to a bank in Islington but the wait was too long, so I scheduled an appointment for tomorrow.

I went to the shopping district in Oxford Circus on a hunt for a cute, comfortable pair of walking shoes.  Unfortunately, this was mission unsuccessful.  I've got big fit in the USA and gigantic feet in Europe.  I didn't
find what I wanted, however, I did establish a bank account.

Tomorrow I'll go to the letting agency and officially establish myself as a resident.  Then I'll go get furniture and other house stuff for my room.  Until then...

Day 1: September 1

 As in the days leading up to my departure, I'd smile to myself when I saw a reference to London, now I quietly tell myself, "I live in London". 

So, I left Jacksonville, Florida on September 1 headed to the Orlando International Airport.  Before reaching the airport I stopped at the Mall at Millenia to enjoy a date with Mrs. Fields cookies (which reminds me.. they're still waiting to be eaten!).  While checking in for my flight, I was asked if I'd be willing to volunteer to take a flight leaving out the following day in exchange for a free hotel stay and a free roundtrip ticket to wherever Virgin Atlantic flies.  I willingly obliged, but was not needed.  I flew on Virgin Atlantic because for once, they were cheaper, and they offer a direct flight.  However, I was not impressed with the lack of baggage Economy Travelers are allowed to check and carry aboard.  Additionally, there was not much leg room. 

I flew into Gatwick with two big rolling bags (thank God for bags with four wheels) and a small rolling carry-on from Brookstone.  Passing through customs was quick since I was the only non-UK or EU traveler that had arrived.  I almost didn't get to pass through because I didn't bring the letter showing that I'd been accepted into school.  Luckily I had a documented that showed that I registered and that was sufficient to let me pass.  After customs, it was time to get the luggage.  It was quite difficult getting the bags off of the conveyor, especially when people won't move over so you can get your luggage.  I was given the "stink-eye" by the man that I pummelled with my luggage and an uninvolved bystander.  I apologized but thought to myself "he should have given me more space".  I finally figured out how to roll all three bags around to catch the Gatwick Express to Victoria Station.  When I arrived, Courtney was there waiting.  She took one of the bags and we rode the bus... home.  Ah... London is my home.  Today was a beautiful day to travel to London.  It was a sunny day in the upper 60s.

After dropping off the bags, we went for lunch and to get the house keys copied.  When we returned home, she went her way and I took a shower and then took a nap.  I forced myself to wake up so that I can get into a normal sleep pattern.  I roamed around Camden town running errands like establishing my cell phone, buying an Oyster card, and getting a wall socket converter. 

This is the beginning of my new life.  My subsequent posts won't be so detailed about my every day activities, but I wanted to remember that my new life got off to a great start.

I want to see what happens when I edit a post.  Does the date of the post change?