You’ll notice I disabled the video comments for Woodworker’s Journey. It was due to a lot of technical problems with them and no support. It seems the folks at Riffly don’t exist anymore, so tech support was nill. Also, none of the video comments could play in IE.
(NO ONE should be web browsing with Internet Explorer in the first place. Firefox is best for PC people.)
Also, it wasn’t quite the platform of connection I had hoped it would be. My vision for The Woodworker’s Journey is to have a meeting place for all of us to share, connect, and inspire each and every one of us on our personal Journey. Each post, each video (coming next week), each feature that appears here is for the sole purpose of arming you with the knowledge and tools to work with greater confidence, passion, and fulfillment than you were before. So, I thought small videos could strengthen the connection between us all. I think it could still work, but there were too many cons to keep going with it. So, I’ve updated the comment system with several plugins that will help us continue discussions and connect to each other easier.
Real time collaboration and feedback is crucial to your success in, well…anything you do, not just woodworking. But a problem that occurs in this age of internet woodworking is a lack of real time critique and support. (check out the comments here)
Enter Google Wave. A real time platform for collaboration from the folks at Google. It’s still being tested and it’s invite only. I think it gets more hype than it deserves right now, but a small group of us woodworkers have been testing it’s potential to connect, share, and create. It’s been interesting. Right now my evaluation is simply that it is working for what we want to do with it. The more we play with it the more abilities we discover within it. It’s got potential, and I can’t wait to see where Google will take it.
That being said, Google Wave is again, invite only and I happen to have 19 (14) invites to give away.
If you’re even remotely interested in trying this experiment with us, leave a comment below and say that you want an invite. I’ll email you an invitation and then, you’re in! I really want to help assemble a committed group of woodworking innovators on this platform. We should embrace new technology and adapt it to our needs as a community. Let’s see what we can do to further inspire your woodworking journey while riding the wave.
What do think? Is there room for this kind of innovation in woodworking or are we just distracting ourselves from the real work? Let’s keep talking.
Want to join in on the experiment? Leave a comment below and indicate that you want an invite.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: Woodnbits
December 8, 2009 at 11:11 am
Me…me…pick me.
Cheers — Larry
Twitter: Torch02
December 8, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Given that a lot of the resurgence of woodworking is due to the hobbyist pick up the craft, rather than surge in professionals, I think things like this are necessary to get the kind of feedback that used to come regularly via an apprenticeship.
Drop the IE bashing and I’m fully on board!
I already wave, but would be interested in connecting…
If it works on the Mac side, I’m in.
Bash IE all you want, it’s compromised.
I’m interested in the woodworking wave…
I’m happyu to participate in the Google Wave expieriment – although real time means that I’m 15 hours ahead of you in Sydney!
Steve (Torch) makes a great point! I think that Google Wave could prove to be invaluable to us as woodworkers purely because of that kind of feedback in real time. Are there other ways to do it? Sure, but I think the wave is just going to make it easier. What would be AMAZING is if Google could add a way to edit a Sketchup file INSIDE of GW! Think about how great it would be to actually SHOW someone in real time your idea and have them be able to edit to maybe show another option? For example, with my gift box that we have been discussing on GW, if someone had an idea for it, they could just load up the Sketchup plugin and sketch it.
Not only that, but the ability to teach things over GW could be another amazing potential! If someone was trying to figure out how to, say, wrap a crown molding around the cabinets they just drew in Sketchup, they could get that help right in GW.
I wish I were a programmer so I could figure out how to make that all happen, but in the meantime, maybe we should email Google and ask for that Sketchup support?
Regardless, the ability to teach and/or learn over GW is pretty cool I think.
Hope to see you guys there!
Twitter: AdamKingStudio
December 9, 2009 at 10:29 am
Hay all,
Just wanted post some quick instructions. When you receive your invite and get in to Google Wave, it’s gonna be a bit confusing. If you want to find us all, search in the contacts search bar for adamkstudio@googlewave.com.
You’ll be prompted to add me to your contacts. From there you can search for any waves I’ve been in and you’ll see everyone else who’s involved. Also, take time to watch all of the tutorial videos and follow along as they demonstrate different features. If you have any questions just ask.
Hope you find this experiment fulfilling and fun! Can’t wait to see you there.
Adam,
I’ve been wanting to see what this is a about. Do you still have invites?
Twitter: smartbloggerz
December 13, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Great to see that you have made changes in your comment system for our readers an also thanks for linking to my post