My Favourite Webslinger Posts of 2014

2014 was a big year for me blogging here. I have been busy blogging for my Deltiology Deity blog. But I my posts for Webslinger have been decreasing steadily.

I even opened the year lamenting my lack of interest in blogging here (which still stands). Despite this, I do enjoy blogging still and had some posts I'm particularly fond of from last year.

Since I started this blog 9 years ago, I have done an annual recap of my favourite posts by month. This year, I'll break with my tradition and use the traditional format of the Top Ten.

1. Putting Toronto on the Locative Map - I had a great time at the Mobile HCI conference in Toronto last fall, particularly at a workshop on using locative and mobile media to tell stories
   
2. There Were Trolls and Anonymous Bullies Long Before the Internet - combining my two blogs into a shared post that examines how postcards from the turn of the last century reflect similar digital media behaviours we see today.
   
3. A Webslinger Holiday - recounting all the great digital and mobile media I encountered on my family vacation to Disney World and Universal Studios (including RFID bracelets, virtual reality fun, & smartphones saving the day.)
   
4. Social Georeferencing - Bring Content Into the Field - I presented at a conference on social georeferencing, a term I coined for online, collaborative adding of geographic metadata to digital content. This post recounts my main points from my presentation on this trend.
   
5. Kid Reviews Mobile Game Tunnel Town - I love writing blog posts with my young daughter and together we reviewed one of her favourite tablet games.
   
6. Spam Poetry - Those ubiquitous and generally annoying spam emails can actually be fun sometimes. I encountered one that, oddly enough, made a very evocative poem.
   
7. Foursquare Loses Me - this was a sad post to write as I have loved the mobile locative media app Foursquare since it launched in Canada. But when they split the app in two to launch their new app Swarm, they result was less than the sum of its former parts.
   
8. Finding and Getting Our Way With Google Maps - I uncovered Google Maps dubious and murky review process for making changes to their mapped points-of-interest. It's not very open, logical, or accurate I found.
   
9. Homer Simpson Uses Locative Media - I was delighted when one of my favourite tv shows satirized the topics I've been researching!
   
10. Most Frustrating App Ever! - We've all had a horrible experience with an app made even worse when it was one we paid for. But having a blog provides an outlet to vent my resulting frustration!

So in compiling this list, I found that although 2014 didn't have much quantity, it did have some quality. This is reflected by some of my posts getting some always-appreciated attention from some prominent sources. 

I'm not sure how 2015 will shape up in regards to my posting habits or trends in digital media. Despite being interviewed yesterday by the CBC about future technology (30 years down the road), I can't foresee what this year will bring.