My unplanned addiction to technology and why it is New York’s fault.

So if I thought I was connected before, New York has really done a number on me. Tech literacy is a MUST in this city and in gaduate school. I can’t claim to be tech-savy in that I don’t know the inneroworkings of most things on my computer and require help from friends if any behind-the-scenes adjusting needs to take place. However, knowledge of all the user-friendly programs out there is a complete must. It’s amazing to me how much technology I use on a daily basis and what is out there, so I’m compiling a list here of the things I use most.

• Bobst is tech savy! Bobst is my school’s library, which has all of the obvious online databases, a well as a few extra sevices. Aside from spending so much time there, having Bobst programmed into my cell and on my ‘friend’ list makes me feel liek we’re old buddies. Students can text message the library to ask for help finding a source. I have done it before when I was having trouble accessing an electronic version of a Harper’s article, and they replied back in about 2 minutes! The same service is also available on messenger and in an online chat screen from the library webpage. In adition to this, you can also have a text sent to your phone with the call number for a book, once you find it in the online catalogue. In a huge library with over 10 floors, it sure makes things easier.
• NYU Home. This is our online center for.. well.. EVERYTHING! Everything for the school is managed here from club activities, to e-mail, to bursar information, to class assignments. It’s insanely well organized, in my opinion, and is far superior to the system I had in undergrad. It’s very streamlined.
• Zotero….. Zotero has changed my life! It helps you to organize sources, create bibliographies online and in word, tag sources and put them in folders, take notes on them… basically anything you could every want to do, in HALF the time. You can tell it if you want to use Chicago style, MLA, APA or whatever kind of citations and you can use it to insert them into your work as you go along. It’s hard to explain it without seeing it, so search for some screenshots.
• Itunes/Ipod Touch.. Aside from the little white earbuds proving to be an excellent way to avoid talking to stangers on the subway, I use this for absolutely everything… I have a Japanese kanji dictionary, a regular dictionary, podcasts ranging from my school’s official podcast to BBC to This American Life to LSAT Logic to The New Yorker.. I have at least 12 podcasts that I can choose from if I’m not in a music mood during my commute or when I’m walking around. Also on my ipod I have uploaded subway maps and route listings, and I have HopStop (a guide for subway directions) and Not For Tourists guide to the city on my ipod. I’m so dependent on it that it’s not even funny.

That’s just a list of what I have used TODAY alone. It’s really quite crazy…. I’m also learning Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop at the moment in order to be able to better create posters for [future] conferences. It’s crazy to think that I have itunes for organizing my music, Zotero for organizing my work, and Facebook fo organizing my friends/social life. It’s a fast-paced world out there.. I could certainly get into the positive and negative aspects of these technologies, but I’ll leave that for you all to ponder. Maybe I’ll write on that later on down the road.

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