Thing 21: Search tools for podcasts.
I am not very familiar with podcasts and I don't know anyone who listens to them. Podcasts, by my understanding, are basically recordings of radio shows, books, etc that can be played back on an iPod, mp3 player, or other device. Podcasts are basically TiVo for your iPod.
I first went to podcast.net and searched for "film," it came up with a number of podcasts so I picked an interesting one, Indie Film Nation, and added it to my RSS feed. I also searched for "spanish" and ended up finding quite a few podcasts that were in Spanish, aside from the usual ones that will teach you the language.
I went to podcastalley.com next, and clicked on the "Arts" category. I ended up with a Harry Potter fanfiction podcast, which was interesting. I can see what podcasts have to offer, but I myself am not buying into the hype; podcasts just don't interest me.
Thing 22: Overdrive/Project Gutenberg.
I was very disappointed with Project Gutenberg. I typed in 4 different authors who are pretty well-known and ended up with nothing each time. I am skeptical as to the reach of their collection if these authors were not available. Overdrive was a bit of a confusing site, as was NetLibrary. I felt kind of like they were trying to make it as hard as possible for me to locate books, especially NetLibrary. But since I would rather read a book than listen to it, this exercise was interesting but not really my kind of thing.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Week 9, Thing 20
YOUTUUUUUUUUUUBE!
I am a big big big fan of YouTube. Not only can you find almost any music video you are looking for (including things I haven't heard since middle school, favorite bands, the most popular new
songs, etc), you can watch them all absolutely free. YouTube also allows you to discover independent film and support their efforts. The only irritating thing that I absolutey cannot stand about YouTube is that people use it as their own personal soundbox. I don't really care for others' opinions, even if they agree with my own. Not to mention that the amount of stupid people who just sit there babbling. Despite these factors, however, I still like YouTube for the fact that you no longer have to download an application (Limewire, Napster, etc) in order to watch videos; you can just go to YouTube and see them without all the spyware and viruses associated with downloadable programs. In the end, no matter what you're looking for, YouTube probably has it, and that makes it entertaining and sometimes invaluable.
I attempted to embed a video from one of my favorite bands in this post, but Blogger won't allow that type of HTML. BOOO BLOGGER!
I am a big big big fan of YouTube. Not only can you find almost any music video you are looking for (including things I haven't heard since middle school, favorite bands, the most popular new
songs, etc), you can watch them all absolutely free. YouTube also allows you to discover independent film and support their efforts. The only irritating thing that I absolutey cannot stand about YouTube is that people use it as their own personal soundbox. I don't really care for others' opinions, even if they agree with my own. Not to mention that the amount of stupid people who just sit there babbling. Despite these factors, however, I still like YouTube for the fact that you no longer have to download an application (Limewire, Napster, etc) in order to watch videos; you can just go to YouTube and see them without all the spyware and viruses associated with downloadable programs. In the end, no matter what you're looking for, YouTube probably has it, and that makes it entertaining and sometimes invaluable.
I attempted to embed a video from one of my favorite bands in this post, but Blogger won't allow that type of HTML. BOOO BLOGGER!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Week 8, Things 18 & 19
For things 18 and 19, I went to Zoho Writer. I don't particularly see the point in online word processors. I mean, come on, how lazy are you that you can't just convert the files between word processors (which all word processors do automatically anyway). The question of plagiarism also struck me, because it would be so simple to hack someone's account and then have access to all their documents. A lot simpler than trying to break into their house and boot up their PC. I can't say that I enjoyed Zoho, and Google Docs was no different.
For thing 19, I visited the Web 2.0 awards site and found some very cool sites. My favorite, however, was One Sentence.org. On this site, you tell a story in one sentence. I thought the idea of limiting a story like that was very interesting and a good way to force people to become creative. I added a story of my own. That would have to be my favorite site.
For thing 19, I visited the Web 2.0 awards site and found some very cool sites. My favorite, however, was One Sentence.org. On this site, you tell a story in one sentence. I thought the idea of limiting a story like that was very interesting and a good way to force people to become creative. I added a story of my own. That would have to be my favorite site.
Week 7, Things 16 & 17
So this week I discovered wikis, and also that my font changes a lot. I like that.
Wikis, I discovered, are interesting but not particularly useful unless complete credibility can be achieved. There's a reason they won't let us use Wikipedia and other wiki sites when writing papers; information can be tampered with too easily through the wiki system. By having an system of open editing, wikis are subject to vandalism and false information. For example, recently someone sabotaged the Wikipedia page of a 90s television actor, claiming that he had died. The page went unchecked for days before someone noticed, and by then, flowers and sympathy cards had been sent to the actor's home.
With that being said, the Wikis that I checked out (including Book Lover's Wiki and Library 2.0 in 15 Minutes a Day) were reputable and fun. It was interesting to see all the book reviews, and the Library 2.0 had some good information about different types of browsers (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox), as well as web tools like blogs, social networking, and other things we have learned about so far in 23 Things.
I also went to the Sandbox wiki and read through a few entries before adding one to the Favorite Fun Memories entry. I thought that it was cute and a great way to share thoughts (another one of my favorites being Random Thoughts).
All in all I think Wikis are useful for entertainment and not so much information unless they are kept in check, like Library 2.0.
Wikis, I discovered, are interesting but not particularly useful unless complete credibility can be achieved. There's a reason they won't let us use Wikipedia and other wiki sites when writing papers; information can be tampered with too easily through the wiki system. By having an system of open editing, wikis are subject to vandalism and false information. For example, recently someone sabotaged the Wikipedia page of a 90s television actor, claiming that he had died. The page went unchecked for days before someone noticed, and by then, flowers and sympathy cards had been sent to the actor's home.
With that being said, the Wikis that I checked out (including Book Lover's Wiki and Library 2.0 in 15 Minutes a Day) were reputable and fun. It was interesting to see all the book reviews, and the Library 2.0 had some good information about different types of browsers (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox), as well as web tools like blogs, social networking, and other things we have learned about so far in 23 Things.
I also went to the Sandbox wiki and read through a few entries before adding one to the Favorite Fun Memories entry. I thought that it was cute and a great way to share thoughts (another one of my favorites being Random Thoughts).
All in all I think Wikis are useful for entertainment and not so much information unless they are kept in check, like Library 2.0.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
8 Little Known Things About Me
I got a tag awhile back so here is the response...
8 Little Known Things About Me:
1. I am deathly afraid of bees.
2. My first and only job has been with BCPL.
3. I am a huge gaming/book/movie geek.
4. My favorite color is blue.
5. Both cars I've had have been Volkswagens.
6. I secretly enjoy reading dumb celebrity gossip.
7. I love thunderstorms
8. Halloween is my favorite holiday.
I'll get around to tagging some blogs later, but in the meantime, it's back to work... and of course to Harry Potter ;)
8 Little Known Things About Me:
1. I am deathly afraid of bees.
2. My first and only job has been with BCPL.
3. I am a huge gaming/book/movie geek.
4. My favorite color is blue.
5. Both cars I've had have been Volkswagens.
6. I secretly enjoy reading dumb celebrity gossip.
7. I love thunderstorms
8. Halloween is my favorite holiday.
I'll get around to tagging some blogs later, but in the meantime, it's back to work... and of course to Harry Potter ;)
Week 6, Things 13, 14, & 15
I started off this week as suggested, by exploring del.icio.us. I can't say I was too impressed with the site. I think that it is practical - a good way of sharing links that don't contain misleading information. There is a lot of unreliable and even downright wrong information to be found on the vast WWW, so I think in that respect, del.icio.us is a good tool for those looking for reliability in their web searching.
The blog-linking site Tehnorati confused me at first. I tried searching for Library 2.0 without quotations, and just ending up getting repeat blogs about pocketbikes and how much they were going for. It was a little strange to say the least. Then I put quotes around it: "library 2.0" and ended up getting what I was looking for. There were 3,442 blogs about Library 2.0 already.
Next I read an article entitled "Into a New World of Librarianship," in which the writer discussed the future of a more technologically sound library and in what ways librarians will have to adapt to these updates. He brought up an interesting story in one of the sections: the argument that the principles of Library 2.0 are not new. I must say I agree with him, however, the ways in which we go about becoming better libraries are different. The same principles of being able to attend to the needs of the public, especially being able to inform them, are the same. But I doubt that libraries in the past have always used computers, or programs such as Library 2.0, in order to better their technological knowledge. As I have said, I grew up with computers, so this is not that hard for me, but for someone with limited computer experience, I think that Library 2.0 is useful.
Lastly, I got tagged awhile back so I figured I would respond to that in the next entry.
The blog-linking site Tehnorati confused me at first. I tried searching for Library 2.0 without quotations, and just ending up getting repeat blogs about pocketbikes and how much they were going for. It was a little strange to say the least. Then I put quotes around it: "library 2.0" and ended up getting what I was looking for. There were 3,442 blogs about Library 2.0 already.
Next I read an article entitled "Into a New World of Librarianship," in which the writer discussed the future of a more technologically sound library and in what ways librarians will have to adapt to these updates. He brought up an interesting story in one of the sections: the argument that the principles of Library 2.0 are not new. I must say I agree with him, however, the ways in which we go about becoming better libraries are different. The same principles of being able to attend to the needs of the public, especially being able to inform them, are the same. But I doubt that libraries in the past have always used computers, or programs such as Library 2.0, in order to better their technological knowledge. As I have said, I grew up with computers, so this is not that hard for me, but for someone with limited computer experience, I think that Library 2.0 is useful.
Lastly, I got tagged awhile back so I figured I would respond to that in the next entry.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Week 5, Things 10, 11, and 12
SO I have just finished with this week's activities. But before I could continue on this priceless journey of learning and frustration, I first had to reset my password because I forgot it. YAY!!! So in the process, I discovered a new word: erstical. Go ahead, look it up, it doesn't exist yet but it will soon because I'm going to give it meaning. So watch out.
I decided to get on Yahoo! and create my own avatar. Since Yahoo! is such a huge media conglomerate, it's truly a surprise that they could not get anyone to better animate these atrocities otherwise known as avatars. My own avatar looked nothing like me, with eyes that took up half her face and tight blue jeans. Speaking of clothes,the start page gave me a choice of a sparkly white halter top or a "Kiss Me, I'm Irish!" shirt. Since I am neither a club-hopping socialite nor Irish, I sadly could not use either option. In the end, avatars can only take you so far. And they really, really don't look like you at all.
Thing 11: LibraryThing. Here's my LibraryThing account: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/librosplox
While I appreciate the fact that LibraryThing let me catalog my favorite books, I suspect some subliminal messaging/sneaky advertising on the part of Amazon.com, whose name popped up quite frequently while I was just attempting to share my love of books with the world. I don't want to buy the books, Amazon. I work in a library, okay? Anyway, LibraryThing definitely interested me mainly because it was cool to see how many people like the same books that I like (unexpectedly, a book I thought only I liked actually happened to be known by more than 100 people).
Things 12: Rollyo. SO USELESS!! The internet and all its inventions are making people lazier and lazier. Instead of actually going on a search through the internet for what you want, you can now have it delivered right to you. I am not a big fan of this technique. I prefer to go looking for my own sources, mainly because I tend to find other interesting facts along the way. I figure, there is no harm in searching each site individually. The only thing stopping someone is laziness. Not to mention the fact that if you are trying to save time looking through all those search engines, you should START THE PROJECT EARLIER, PROCRASTINATOR! (And trust me, as a student, I know everything about procrastinating and marathon paper writing.) Also, something like this has definitely been invented before, with a much more amusing name: check out www.dogpile.com
I can't get over that name! HEEHEE.
That's all for this week's adventure into cyberspace. PEACE OUTTT.
I decided to get on Yahoo! and create my own avatar. Since Yahoo! is such a huge media conglomerate, it's truly a surprise that they could not get anyone to better animate these atrocities otherwise known as avatars. My own avatar looked nothing like me, with eyes that took up half her face and tight blue jeans. Speaking of clothes,the start page gave me a choice of a sparkly white halter top or a "Kiss Me, I'm Irish!" shirt. Since I am neither a club-hopping socialite nor Irish, I sadly could not use either option. In the end, avatars can only take you so far. And they really, really don't look like you at all.
Thing 11: LibraryThing. Here's my LibraryThing account: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/librosplox
While I appreciate the fact that LibraryThing let me catalog my favorite books, I suspect some subliminal messaging/sneaky advertising on the part of Amazon.com, whose name popped up quite frequently while I was just attempting to share my love of books with the world. I don't want to buy the books, Amazon. I work in a library, okay? Anyway, LibraryThing definitely interested me mainly because it was cool to see how many people like the same books that I like (unexpectedly, a book I thought only I liked actually happened to be known by more than 100 people).
Things 12: Rollyo. SO USELESS!! The internet and all its inventions are making people lazier and lazier. Instead of actually going on a search through the internet for what you want, you can now have it delivered right to you. I am not a big fan of this technique. I prefer to go looking for my own sources, mainly because I tend to find other interesting facts along the way. I figure, there is no harm in searching each site individually. The only thing stopping someone is laziness. Not to mention the fact that if you are trying to save time looking through all those search engines, you should START THE PROJECT EARLIER, PROCRASTINATOR! (And trust me, as a student, I know everything about procrastinating and marathon paper writing.) Also, something like this has definitely been invented before, with a much more amusing name: check out www.dogpile.com
I can't get over that name! HEEHEE.
That's all for this week's adventure into cyberspace. PEACE OUTTT.
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