If you can, picture me patting myself on my back.
I have really enjoyed the Discover 2.0 program. There are several things that I learned about from this program that I use frequently now. Blogger, MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube, I had used before, but now I use del.icio.us, last.fm, Pandora Radio, and Goodreads as well. I also really enjoyed the Common Craft Show.
I think that Web 2.0 is very important for library staff to be aware of, because it is changing how people find and create information. I found this video through my "Prospective UM MSI Students" Facebook group, and I think it is a really good visual of where information is going.
It is a lot for libraries to keep up with. The best place to start, I think, is to get patrons involved as much as we can.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Alternative Blogging
I found a tumblr page called "Garfield Minus Garfield" that I had read about in Entertainment Weekly a couple of weeks ago. It's hilarious. I recommend it to anyone who is a human being.
I checked out Twitter and watched the Common Craft show about it. The Common Craft show said that Twitter is what happens between emails and blogs. Twitter is life. It seems like a pretty obsessive thing. I don't know that any of my friends are on it, so I didn't sign up. MySpace and Facebook have similar features. I don't think you are able to look back on old "updates" that they wrote, but I'm not really interested in it.
I like Tumblr. It's very user friendly and even has a little guide to walk you through it. My tumblr is http://rstandal.tumblr.com I also like the clean look of the pages. It seems like a great way to share things you find on the internet more visually than the other ways we've explored. I might continue to use it.
I checked out Twitter and watched the Common Craft show about it. The Common Craft show said that Twitter is what happens between emails and blogs. Twitter is life. It seems like a pretty obsessive thing. I don't know that any of my friends are on it, so I didn't sign up. MySpace and Facebook have similar features. I don't think you are able to look back on old "updates" that they wrote, but I'm not really interested in it.
I like Tumblr. It's very user friendly and even has a little guide to walk you through it. My tumblr is http://rstandal.tumblr.com I also like the clean look of the pages. It seems like a great way to share things you find on the internet more visually than the other ways we've explored. I might continue to use it.
Videos
I looked at several of the video sites, but didn't like any of them more than YouTube. I searched "library," and the two funny videos below are some of the ones that came up.
I try not to search videos on YouTube very often because it really can be a time-waster, as everybody knows. Still, there are a lot of great things about it. FVRL has started utilizing YouTube with its One Minute Critic videos and with the YAAB robot dance contest. There are also a lot of instructional videos available that can be helpful. Obviously, we have been using them for this program, but others for crafts and computer explanations could be helpful for both library employees and patrons.
I try not to search videos on YouTube very often because it really can be a time-waster, as everybody knows. Still, there are a lot of great things about it. FVRL has started utilizing YouTube with its One Minute Critic videos and with the YAAB robot dance contest. There are also a lot of instructional videos available that can be helpful. Obviously, we have been using them for this program, but others for crafts and computer explanations could be helpful for both library employees and patrons.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Podcasts
Okay. After some initial frustration about whether or not I could listen to these podcasts, I am now listening to something called "Library Geeks" which is not, um, interesting. I don't like listening to people talk to each other on the radio when one person is always saying "Hmm..." I added the podcast to my Bloglines anyway. I haven't found Bloglines to be something that I use except when prompted to by the 2.0 blog.
Of the podcast directories, Podcastalley.com was the only one that worked for me. Thanks to John at IT, I learned that I don't need the software to listen to the podcasts, but I can use the links to cut and paste my way to the website of origin and just listen from there.
I can see how podcasts can be a good resource for libraries. From what I saw on Podcastalley.com it looks like there are a lot of libraries who do podcasts on research tips and library/information news. The Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library do podcasts of events they sponsor. I wanted to listen to one in which they talk to Louise Erdrich and her sisters, but you have to download it, so I will probably do it later at home.
Of the podcast directories, Podcastalley.com was the only one that worked for me. Thanks to John at IT, I learned that I don't need the software to listen to the podcasts, but I can use the links to cut and paste my way to the website of origin and just listen from there.
I can see how podcasts can be a good resource for libraries. From what I saw on Podcastalley.com it looks like there are a lot of libraries who do podcasts on research tips and library/information news. The Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library do podcasts of events they sponsor. I wanted to listen to one in which they talk to Louise Erdrich and her sisters, but you have to download it, so I will probably do it later at home.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Music and Audio
I went to all the sites suggested by the 2.0 program. Of the music sites I liked Last.fm the best. For me, it is the most user-friendly. I like to use MySpace to listen to music, and last.fm has a similar set up, but offers a lot more. There is a really generous selection of songs as well as music videos, and I like that it links you out to places where you can purchase the mp3s or the albums. What really sets last.fm apart though is the user created tags and the sidebar of similar artists. Pandora is good also, but different. The way it sets up a "radio station" for you based on who you like is great for exploring new music or having something to listen to continually which you can guide by ratings of what you liked and didn't like. But as far as finding specific artists or songs to explore in more depth, it really isn't that helpful. I did not really like IMEEM; it didn't seem to offer anything unique or in a better format than the others.
As far as the other audio - I have used Internet Archive before, and I've mentioned it in this blog. It is pretty easy to use and offers a lot of great things without lengthy buffering. The absolute sound effects archive would be useful if you used sound effects, but I don't really... I had also looked at Gutenburg.org before and found it difficult to navigate. I wasn't familiar with its audio book selection, however. Maybe sometime at home I will download one and see how I like it. If it is good, I think it would be helpful to mention to patrons. I am a little confused with how these can be in the public domain, though. Doesn't the reader have some sort of copyright on his or her reading?
Mango languages was interesting. I started a little of the first French lesson, and it reminded me of the CDs I used in my introduction to French class. It could be a great resource for patrons, especially ones who are traveling and need to know some basics for pronunciation.
The Discover 2.0 blog asked if CDs were dead. All I can say about that right now is "Not yet." I still buy and listen to CDs. Although I don't have an ipod, I like to download music and listen to it on my computer (or on a CD) as well. Right now there is room in the market for both things, but it may not remain so. I believe that there will continue to be some physical form of music, like records or cassettes or CDs have been, just as I believe that books will not die even when everything is available online.
As far as the other audio - I have used Internet Archive before, and I've mentioned it in this blog. It is pretty easy to use and offers a lot of great things without lengthy buffering. The absolute sound effects archive would be useful if you used sound effects, but I don't really... I had also looked at Gutenburg.org before and found it difficult to navigate. I wasn't familiar with its audio book selection, however. Maybe sometime at home I will download one and see how I like it. If it is good, I think it would be helpful to mention to patrons. I am a little confused with how these can be in the public domain, though. Doesn't the reader have some sort of copyright on his or her reading?
Mango languages was interesting. I started a little of the first French lesson, and it reminded me of the CDs I used in my introduction to French class. It could be a great resource for patrons, especially ones who are traveling and need to know some basics for pronunciation.
The Discover 2.0 blog asked if CDs were dead. All I can say about that right now is "Not yet." I still buy and listen to CDs. Although I don't have an ipod, I like to download music and listen to it on my computer (or on a CD) as well. Right now there is room in the market for both things, but it may not remain so. I believe that there will continue to be some physical form of music, like records or cassettes or CDs have been, just as I believe that books will not die even when everything is available online.
Google Docs
I am writing my blog in Google Docs. The Discover 2.0 blog mentioned that some people see Google Docs as an alternative to using Microsoft Office, especially since, when you need to, you can invite other people into your document to view or edit it as necessary. I can see how this could be helpful for writers and editors and people who make spreadsheets and stuff. At first I didn't see how it was that different than wikis in serving small groups, but now I do. Google Docs seems to be an application for writing and editing information to be published elsewhere, and a wiki is a place for things to evolve where they are and be on display there.
But back to what I was saying about Microsoft Office. I recently purchased a new computer, and Microsoft has decided not to include Word in the Office package that comes with new computers. This makes moving my old documents to my new computer more time-consuming than I would like it to be. If I had all my documents on Google docs, certainly this wouldn't be a problem. In the same way that del.ici.ous makes it possible for people to access their bookmarks from any computer, Google docs makes it possible for people to access their documents from any computer. So will I start using Google Docs? Probably not. A potential breach of privacy doesn't really concern me, since that's a risk you take just having a computer with internet access. But, even though it is spreading rapidly, internet service is not yet available everywhere, and if you move your computer around with you, as I do, you will still need to access your documents sometimes when you're not able to be online. So Microsoft Office can breathe easy for a little while. It is more likely that it will work in conjunction with Google Docs than be competing with it.
But back to what I was saying about Microsoft Office. I recently purchased a new computer, and Microsoft has decided not to include Word in the Office package that comes with new computers. This makes moving my old documents to my new computer more time-consuming than I would like it to be. If I had all my documents on Google docs, certainly this wouldn't be a problem. In the same way that del.ici.ous makes it possible for people to access their bookmarks from any computer, Google docs makes it possible for people to access their documents from any computer. So will I start using Google Docs? Probably not. A potential breach of privacy doesn't really concern me, since that's a risk you take just having a computer with internet access. But, even though it is spreading rapidly, internet service is not yet available everywhere, and if you move your computer around with you, as I do, you will still need to access your documents sometimes when you're not able to be online. So Microsoft Office can breathe easy for a little while. It is more likely that it will work in conjunction with Google Docs than be competing with it.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Wikis
The wiki. I am familiar with wikipedia.org, and so familiar with most of the ways that wikis work, even though I have never made one myself. I watched the wikis in plain english video, and it didn't tell me anything new. Then I read the article "Using Wikis to Create Online Communities," which was okay. I visited a wiki linked out from there - libsuccess.org - which is supposed to be a wiki of different success stories and tips from an online community of librarians. It was quite a disappointment, though, since it is primarily links to other websites, and would be better served as a del.ici.ous account.
I like wikis. I think they are one of the better tools, and I like the idea from the article I read to add wikis to the online catalog to create a system of reviews and recommendations similar to Amazon's. I still think that amazon.com is the best source for book and music reviews and information and has the best search engine. Anyway the library can emulate it would be fantastic. I also think the IS Fugitive Facts wiki could be helpful, now that I know about it.
As far as other uses for wikis go, I think the camping trip example from the Common Craft Show was silly. Four friends who can't get together to plan a camping trip are ridiculous, especially since it takes the third person to remember that they will need a tent. Wikis would be more helpful to groups of people like community committees, which Ridgefield seems to have a dozen of. The committee for the centennial, which I am working on, could benefit from having a place to pool our history resources, for example. The impediment to practical use of this would, of course, be teaching people how to use it and a way to show them that it's there. Maybe that's something that the library should focus on right now.
I like wikis. I think they are one of the better tools, and I like the idea from the article I read to add wikis to the online catalog to create a system of reviews and recommendations similar to Amazon's. I still think that amazon.com is the best source for book and music reviews and information and has the best search engine. Anyway the library can emulate it would be fantastic. I also think the IS Fugitive Facts wiki could be helpful, now that I know about it.
As far as other uses for wikis go, I think the camping trip example from the Common Craft Show was silly. Four friends who can't get together to plan a camping trip are ridiculous, especially since it takes the third person to remember that they will need a tent. Wikis would be more helpful to groups of people like community committees, which Ridgefield seems to have a dozen of. The committee for the centennial, which I am working on, could benefit from having a place to pool our history resources, for example. The impediment to practical use of this would, of course, be teaching people how to use it and a way to show them that it's there. Maybe that's something that the library should focus on right now.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Books!
For this assignment I started a Goodreads account, since I already have one with LibraryThing. I never really got into LibraryThing, so when I tried to log on to compare it with Goodreads, I couldn't remember my username and password. I hate it when websites make your sign-in name different than your email address. I can, after all, only remember so much. Anyway, I do use the iread application of Facebook on which you can imput your books, rate them, etc. etc. and I found it more convenient to use than LibraryThing, since I check Facebook for other things (obviously).
Already I like Goodreads better than LibraryThing. It seems easier to navigate, I don't think you ever need to pay for it, and it has a lovely little feature where you record when you read a book. The website is set up more like other social networking sites, so it is a little more intuitive as well. Plus, the overview mentioned that I could add its application to my Facebook account, which I might do to replace iread, since it is certainly better than that.
Another great thing about Goodreads is that it has a little events page that shows you author events in your area. Authors are on both Goodreads and LibraryThing, but it would be interesting to see which is the preferred method of reaching out to readers.
LibraryThing does have a couple of features that, as far as I know so far, Goodreads does not. One is that it offers a lottery of advance reading copies. While a great idea, this doesn't interest me very much because your chances of getting the book aren't very good and because I already get advance copies from working in a bookstore. Another feature is the option to link out to purchase a book, which I don't really see as necessary, since I know where to buy books.
The biggest problem with either of these sites is that I don't know anybody on them. Unlike Facebook and MySpace, where they catch on because everybody's talking about them, the only people I've heard talk about these are the people I work with here in the library. Many of the things LibraryThing and Goodreads offer are offered just as adequately by Amazon - reviews by readers, recommendations based on what you've read/bought/looked at. So I'm interested to see how quickly the book networking catches on.
Already I like Goodreads better than LibraryThing. It seems easier to navigate, I don't think you ever need to pay for it, and it has a lovely little feature where you record when you read a book. The website is set up more like other social networking sites, so it is a little more intuitive as well. Plus, the overview mentioned that I could add its application to my Facebook account, which I might do to replace iread, since it is certainly better than that.
Another great thing about Goodreads is that it has a little events page that shows you author events in your area. Authors are on both Goodreads and LibraryThing, but it would be interesting to see which is the preferred method of reaching out to readers.
LibraryThing does have a couple of features that, as far as I know so far, Goodreads does not. One is that it offers a lottery of advance reading copies. While a great idea, this doesn't interest me very much because your chances of getting the book aren't very good and because I already get advance copies from working in a bookstore. Another feature is the option to link out to purchase a book, which I don't really see as necessary, since I know where to buy books.
The biggest problem with either of these sites is that I don't know anybody on them. Unlike Facebook and MySpace, where they catch on because everybody's talking about them, the only people I've heard talk about these are the people I work with here in the library. Many of the things LibraryThing and Goodreads offer are offered just as adequately by Amazon - reviews by readers, recommendations based on what you've read/bought/looked at. So I'm interested to see how quickly the book networking catches on.
Technorati
First, I couldn't watch the Technorati Tutorial, because this computer doesn't have QuickTime and wouldn't download it. I read the article about it and was satisfactorily informed, however. Then I checked out the percolating section of Technorati; it's neat, but kind of like looking at the front page of People magazine, which is cool if you like that sort of thing. Then I looked at the popular section and checked out Boing Boing, the world's most popular blog. I liked it, and added it to my bloglines, but was kind of surprised that it is so popular for what it is. It is primarily short posts of "cultural curiosities and interesting technologies," and I guess I would have expected the most popular blog to be, well, celebrity gossip or politics. It seems, however, that blogs with worldwide popularity are mostly concerned with technology. How refreshing.
I did the search of "Learning 2.0" in Blog Posts, Tags, and the Blog Directory. The results were pretty much the same for each and not very interesting.
I did the search of "Learning 2.0" in Blog Posts, Tags, and the Blog Directory. The results were pretty much the same for each and not very interesting.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Del.icio.us
Hello. I just learned about Del.icio.us, which I hadn't heard about before. I didn't find looking at the site today very exciting, but I can see how on other days it might be very much so. I think that if I had my own del.icio.us account I would use it often. I like it as an alternative to both browser bookmarking, since you can use it on other computers, and to a reader like bloglines, which isn't really necessary unless you check a ton of different, difficult to navigate websites a day.
Del.icio.us seems like a very valuable took for research, and I think it would be great for teachers/professors to have an account like that which their students could access and share resources and which could grow more rich in one area or topic that a student's account would not. In the same way it seems like a good tool for graduate students, librarians, historians, and business owners.
Del.icio.us seems like a very valuable took for research, and I think it would be great for teachers/professors to have an account like that which their students could access and share resources and which could grow more rich in one area or topic that a student's account would not. In the same way it seems like a good tool for graduate students, librarians, historians, and business owners.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Generators
For my play day I make this sweet superhero using HeroMachine 2.5 a generator I found on the generator blog. Her name is Legola and she's descended from Tolkien's brand of elves. She's lives in modern day America, but fights crime the old-fashioned Middle Earth way.Please don't remind me how cool I am.
Hero Machine was pretty fun, since I like superheros so much, BUT it was a pain to get her picture onto my blog, since I can't just cut and paste it and since this computer I'm on doesn't have Paint (or any similar program).
If you do, however, you can make a non-colored one and print it out for coloring pages. I think this is a good generator to show kids, especially if you're having a superhero themed event or storytime...
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Social Networking 1
What do I think about social networking?
I have two conflicting opinions about it. One, is that I love it. Several different social networking websites have kept in touch, or at least knowledgeable about, friends with whom I would have otherwise lost contact. Even if I haven't spoken with my old college roommate for a year, I at least know where she's working, what her "relationship status" is, and what she looks like now. Suddenly I feel better about myself. A few college friends - now separately in Michigan, Idaho, New York and Washington D.C. - and I have also kept in touch by sending group messages through Facebook. This "thread" tool is great for letting everyone you want to know about your life know about it all at once. Facebook is also the medium through which I found out one friend's engagement and another friend's stroke - and how I've kept up on her recovery, which is going well.
My other opinion about social networking is, you guessed it, I hate it. The kind of communication through these sites is often polarizing - wouldn't I have rather heard about my friend's stroke from another friend in the old-fashioned social network, the phone? Certainly, I would have. Social networks give us the veil of keeping in touch and being inclusive without actually being so. Mass invitations to parties and well wishes for birthdays aren't the same as personal phone calls or cards or even emails, and we all feel it. MySpace - and text messaging too, I think - give us the opportunity to be lazy friends. I am guilty of it, for sure. Social networks are also a great medium for time wasting and unhealthy egoism, if that's your thing (and admit it, it is).
BUT... If my favorite thing about Facebook is keeping in touch with college friends, my favorite thing about MySpace is MUSIC. I think MySpace is a fabulous medium for advertising. I never buy a CD now without listening to a few of the band's songs on MySpace to make sure that I like it. I know bands and bars that book shows now exclusively through MySpace, and it works great. For a business or a group or a library, I think MySpace is a wonderful tool - free advertising, free website for offering information, and a great way to connect directly with fans, customers, patrons, what have you.
I read the arguments against groups/libraries using MySpace and Facebook and I thought they were poor. We don't want to intrude on teenager's spaces? People do scandalous things there? There are predators there? That sounds just as much like a reason not to go to college. Anywhere information is people create niches and there are bad things and things we don't agree with, but that's no reason not to participate in the general field of information, and that's what these websites are becoming.
I have two conflicting opinions about it. One, is that I love it. Several different social networking websites have kept in touch, or at least knowledgeable about, friends with whom I would have otherwise lost contact. Even if I haven't spoken with my old college roommate for a year, I at least know where she's working, what her "relationship status" is, and what she looks like now. Suddenly I feel better about myself. A few college friends - now separately in Michigan, Idaho, New York and Washington D.C. - and I have also kept in touch by sending group messages through Facebook. This "thread" tool is great for letting everyone you want to know about your life know about it all at once. Facebook is also the medium through which I found out one friend's engagement and another friend's stroke - and how I've kept up on her recovery, which is going well.
My other opinion about social networking is, you guessed it, I hate it. The kind of communication through these sites is often polarizing - wouldn't I have rather heard about my friend's stroke from another friend in the old-fashioned social network, the phone? Certainly, I would have. Social networks give us the veil of keeping in touch and being inclusive without actually being so. Mass invitations to parties and well wishes for birthdays aren't the same as personal phone calls or cards or even emails, and we all feel it. MySpace - and text messaging too, I think - give us the opportunity to be lazy friends. I am guilty of it, for sure. Social networks are also a great medium for time wasting and unhealthy egoism, if that's your thing (and admit it, it is).
BUT... If my favorite thing about Facebook is keeping in touch with college friends, my favorite thing about MySpace is MUSIC. I think MySpace is a fabulous medium for advertising. I never buy a CD now without listening to a few of the band's songs on MySpace to make sure that I like it. I know bands and bars that book shows now exclusively through MySpace, and it works great. For a business or a group or a library, I think MySpace is a wonderful tool - free advertising, free website for offering information, and a great way to connect directly with fans, customers, patrons, what have you.
I read the arguments against groups/libraries using MySpace and Facebook and I thought they were poor. We don't want to intrude on teenager's spaces? People do scandalous things there? There are predators there? That sounds just as much like a reason not to go to college. Anywhere information is people create niches and there are bad things and things we don't agree with, but that's no reason not to participate in the general field of information, and that's what these websites are becoming.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
IM
Before I began this program, I stopped using instant messaging about the same time I started using blogger (then I stopped using blogger about the same time I started using Facebook; I guess I have a one track mind for online tools). I'm interested to see if anything has changed. Back in the day I used mostly AIM, but I also had a Meebo account (was it Meebo?) that let me talk to friends with MSN as well. I tend to think of IM as a teen angsty kind of thing, because that's where I was when I used it. But I always knew, somewhere back in my mind, that people used it for things other than gossip and flirtation.
When I think of IM and work my mind flashes to those messages between Bridget Jones and Daniel Cleaver, however, I very much like the idea of using IM as a librarian. Other than people comfortably using their anonymity to prank IM hardworking librarians, I think that it would be a great tool in our system both between librarians and patrons and between branches. IM is much faster than email and in many cases much faster than the phone, with the added benefit of being able to send links and enter chats and transfer patron questions to another library. How exciting!
When I think of IM and work my mind flashes to those messages between Bridget Jones and Daniel Cleaver, however, I very much like the idea of using IM as a librarian. Other than people comfortably using their anonymity to prank IM hardworking librarians, I think that it would be a great tool in our system both between librarians and patrons and between branches. IM is much faster than email and in many cases much faster than the phone, with the added benefit of being able to send links and enter chats and transfer patron questions to another library. How exciting!
More RSS
I was just kidding when I said on to the next thing.
The next assignment asks us to look at feed searches. At each site I used the same search words and only Google Blog Search came right up with what I was actually looking for. I love how Google seems to read my mind. Topix.net came in second place followed by Technorati and then Syndic8. Aside from h8ing their mashup of letters and numbers, I didn't like Syndic8's look, which was so boring and outdated that I wouldn't trust it to find the latest news. The Feedster link didn't work, so I didn't go there.
I don't know if I will use these searches in "real life," but it's nice to know that they're out there. What helped me most when finding feeds I wanted - like from The Columbian - was to search bloglines for the feed. I looked at The Columbian's website and didn't want to try as hard to find it as they wanted me to.
As far as use of RSS goes, I can see how it would be really beneficial in the workplace as a substitute for mass email and for newslettery-type information. As far as library patron use, I think it would be a neat to have library updates and events information. Honestly, though, I think that other websites hold more possibilities. I get feeds on Facebook and MySpace anytime any of my friends touch their pages; I know if there are new pictures, new comments, new blogposts, and I think that kind of social networking could be more helpful for patron outreach than RSS feeds. Then again, I'm not yet sure how these things are all related nor am I up to the social networking part of the course yet. So...Cheers!
The next assignment asks us to look at feed searches. At each site I used the same search words and only Google Blog Search came right up with what I was actually looking for. I love how Google seems to read my mind. Topix.net came in second place followed by Technorati and then Syndic8. Aside from h8ing their mashup of letters and numbers, I didn't like Syndic8's look, which was so boring and outdated that I wouldn't trust it to find the latest news. The Feedster link didn't work, so I didn't go there.
I don't know if I will use these searches in "real life," but it's nice to know that they're out there. What helped me most when finding feeds I wanted - like from The Columbian - was to search bloglines for the feed. I looked at The Columbian's website and didn't want to try as hard to find it as they wanted me to.
As far as use of RSS goes, I can see how it would be really beneficial in the workplace as a substitute for mass email and for newslettery-type information. As far as library patron use, I think it would be a neat to have library updates and events information. Honestly, though, I think that other websites hold more possibilities. I get feeds on Facebook and MySpace anytime any of my friends touch their pages; I know if there are new pictures, new comments, new blogposts, and I think that kind of social networking could be more helpful for patron outreach than RSS feeds. Then again, I'm not yet sure how these things are all related nor am I up to the social networking part of the course yet. So...Cheers!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Bloglines and RSS
I have always had a fondness for "RSS" since it is so close to my initials, but I never really knew what it was until today. It surprises me a little, since I think of myself as, for the most part, up to date on internet trends. At least I am not alone.
So I set up my bloglines account. Another account. Already I have two (or more) email addresses, a Facebook account, a MySpace account (and it looks like I will opening another), this blog, a flickr account, my online bank account, and, it seems, a million other places where I have to remember a login and password. Can I attach some of these places to bloglines and let it tell me what's new without my accounts growing stale?
While many people end up spending too much time on the internet checking all of these things I tend to go the other way and not get on at all because it takes too much time to check up on everything. Bloglines might be a time saver. I subscribed to the local weather and the local newspaper, and Entertainment Weekly's dailies which always clog up my email and just get deleted, and then had seven more to subscribe to finish this discover 2.0 assignment. Seven things I didn't know I was missing out on! In a way Bloglines might just be a more efficient way of wasting my time. Some more time with it will tell.
Meanwhile, in my feed from EW, I learned that many old movies are moving into the public domain and are now available legally on sights like Internet Archive where I just spend some time watching an old Felix cartoon, which streamed very smoothly. Over the weekend I tried to watch Pinocchio online at watch-movies.net and couldn't because it was so slow. Maybe that's a karma thing - I'm not sure about the legality of that site.
Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about RSS, so on to the next thing!
So I set up my bloglines account. Another account. Already I have two (or more) email addresses, a Facebook account, a MySpace account (and it looks like I will opening another), this blog, a flickr account, my online bank account, and, it seems, a million other places where I have to remember a login and password. Can I attach some of these places to bloglines and let it tell me what's new without my accounts growing stale?
While many people end up spending too much time on the internet checking all of these things I tend to go the other way and not get on at all because it takes too much time to check up on everything. Bloglines might be a time saver. I subscribed to the local weather and the local newspaper, and Entertainment Weekly's dailies which always clog up my email and just get deleted, and then had seven more to subscribe to finish this discover 2.0 assignment. Seven things I didn't know I was missing out on! In a way Bloglines might just be a more efficient way of wasting my time. Some more time with it will tell.
Meanwhile, in my feed from EW, I learned that many old movies are moving into the public domain and are now available legally on sights like Internet Archive where I just spend some time watching an old Felix cartoon, which streamed very smoothly. Over the weekend I tried to watch Pinocchio online at watch-movies.net and couldn't because it was so slow. Maybe that's a karma thing - I'm not sure about the legality of that site.
Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about RSS, so on to the next thing!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Retrievr
I just spent some time looking through the flickr mashups. I wanted to browse through mappr, but everywhere I went linked me back to the same old page that only explained how it worked and didn't do anything at all. It's disappointing, because I thought that mashup sounded the best. Oh well; I went to retrievr and played with that instead. It says that it brings up pictures based on your drawing, and while it seems to take a little from shape, mostly I found that it brings up photos based on the color palette you use, which is cool too. I can see how that would be a pretty neat tool for a decorator. I also played briefly with flickr color pickr, but wasn't that impressed because all of the pictures it brings up are swirly photoshop style pictures, and not many that are of anything.
Now I am playing a hamster sudoku game that is fun.
Now I am playing a hamster sudoku game that is fun.
Flickr
I found this picture on flickr. I believe it was taken in good old Ridgefield, WA. The person who posted this picture has a lot of other really good ones from the refuge that are fun to look through.
I like flickr a lot. I think I may start using it for my pictures.
I like flickr a lot. I think I may start using it for my pictures.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Blog
Who would have thought that I would someday be paid to blog? Though I guess that's not what I'm being paid for - it's the training. Being paid to be a lifelong learner sure is fabulous as well, though.
I watched a lovely video presentation about the 7 1/2 habits of highly successful lifelong learners and am supposed to determine which of habit is hardest for me, and which is easiest. This is quite the self-reflective little task. I have decided that habit 1: begin with the end in mind is probably the most difficult, or the least natural for me. Generally I don't begin with the end in mind, I just start out and see how far I go. Later I might end up kicking myself for not going farther, say when I tried a semester of French, so setting out with certain goals is something that will make me a better learner. Habit 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning is probably my strongest learning habit, and this is probably why I have been so successful in school throughout my life. It may also be why I am already familiar with blogger and, though I have not done it for a year and a half, have three years of blogging experience under my belt. And now I'm getting paid to do it better. Fantastic!
I watched a lovely video presentation about the 7 1/2 habits of highly successful lifelong learners and am supposed to determine which of habit is hardest for me, and which is easiest. This is quite the self-reflective little task. I have decided that habit 1: begin with the end in mind is probably the most difficult, or the least natural for me. Generally I don't begin with the end in mind, I just start out and see how far I go. Later I might end up kicking myself for not going farther, say when I tried a semester of French, so setting out with certain goals is something that will make me a better learner. Habit 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning is probably my strongest learning habit, and this is probably why I have been so successful in school throughout my life. It may also be why I am already familiar with blogger and, though I have not done it for a year and a half, have three years of blogging experience under my belt. And now I'm getting paid to do it better. Fantastic!
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