I think the most important thig I learned is that the internet is still evolving and there are lots of new and very helpful tools out there that can be used and implemented for various projects. The sky is the limit. All one has to do is look for them.
For me the most challenging part was trying to add a LibraryThing widget to the sidebar of my blog. I could not get it to work proberly. but I wonder if it was the lateness of the hour. I will try again in the morning.
I thought the self-direction worked well. I could work on it when I had time and if I got stuck there was a method to ask questions. Working on the course on my own time allowed me time as well to really investigate those tools that I liked, would use and wnated to know more about.
I would have like a little more information on the design and techniques of blogging, but overall I am very happy with the material that covered int he course.
The course fulfilled most of my expectations. I now have some knowledge and appreciation of some of the Web 2.0 applications that are out there in cyberspace and how to use them. The information I have learned in this course is like a seed that will grow and become bigger as more applications/situations present themselves for development.
I would recommend it to a friend. I thought the course was well presented, help was always available and the course itself was very informative. I'm looking forward to Web 3.0 the next generation.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Library Catalogue
This site is very cool. I love all the things that can be done. I want to add a widget to my blog of all the book covers I have read. I love seeing who else and how many other people have read the same book. I liked the reviews because they are written by readers and not publishers. I was looking for something on the website to the effect if you like this author or book then try this one, but I didn't see anything like that. Did I miss it? For some of the nonfiction how to books that I am reading and trying things from, it would be very interesting to maybe contact some of the other readers to see what they did to, discuss any problems that didn't work. I will have to go back and see if that can be done. I'm wondering if privacy might be a problem. I believe that this is one site that I'll use again. There are lots of possible uses from book clubs to just keeping your book collection organized.
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/LynnePD
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/LynnePD
Google Reader
Google Reader is my life line to my hobbies: rubber stamping, card making and digital scrapbooking.
Currently I subsecribe to 240 blogs. All the information I need on technique, tutorials, finished product etc... is available on the internet. Their are literally thousands of people who share the same hobbies and love to share any information they have.
I love Google Reader because I can see at a glance which blogs/websites have new postings or information. I can then select the blog and the new posting I want to read. I couldn't rely on my favorites to do this. I would have to go down the list one by one searching for new posts and it would be very time consuming, if at all possible time wise.
If I find a posting I like I assign one of my tags to it. That way the information is at my fingertips, when I want it again, without doing a huge search through my favorites to find it.
I try to read through the entire list of all the new posts for the blogs I subsribed to at least once every couple of weeks. There is always tons of new posts. I have all the blogs organized by hobby, ie stamping, digital scrabooking, photography etc.... so I can read all the new posts on a certain topic.
One of the best features of Reader is that my account is store on-line and not on my pc. Therefore if my PC were to crash I would not lose everything and have to start all over. I really heavily on the internet re blogs, websites etc... for information on my hobbies and Reader is a great place to keep upto date on new posts and to keep that information organized and at my fingertips.
I have been using Reader for quite awhile and will continue to do so probably for many years to come. It is the best method I have for classifying and organizing all the information I want/need on my hobbies.
Some of the new blogs I have been looking at recently include:
http://andreawalford.com/?p=3064
http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Many of the blogs I read lead me to another one on the same topic. My only problem with Google Reader is to realistically control the number of blogs that I subscribe to or my computer might just swallow me up for a few days at a time.
Currently I subsecribe to 240 blogs. All the information I need on technique, tutorials, finished product etc... is available on the internet. Their are literally thousands of people who share the same hobbies and love to share any information they have.
I love Google Reader because I can see at a glance which blogs/websites have new postings or information. I can then select the blog and the new posting I want to read. I couldn't rely on my favorites to do this. I would have to go down the list one by one searching for new posts and it would be very time consuming, if at all possible time wise.
If I find a posting I like I assign one of my tags to it. That way the information is at my fingertips, when I want it again, without doing a huge search through my favorites to find it.
I try to read through the entire list of all the new posts for the blogs I subsribed to at least once every couple of weeks. There is always tons of new posts. I have all the blogs organized by hobby, ie stamping, digital scrabooking, photography etc.... so I can read all the new posts on a certain topic.
One of the best features of Reader is that my account is store on-line and not on my pc. Therefore if my PC were to crash I would not lose everything and have to start all over. I really heavily on the internet re blogs, websites etc... for information on my hobbies and Reader is a great place to keep upto date on new posts and to keep that information organized and at my fingertips.
I have been using Reader for quite awhile and will continue to do so probably for many years to come. It is the best method I have for classifying and organizing all the information I want/need on my hobbies.
Some of the new blogs I have been looking at recently include:
http://andreawalford.com/?p=3064
http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Many of the blogs I read lead me to another one on the same topic. My only problem with Google Reader is to realistically control the number of blogs that I subscribe to or my computer might just swallow me up for a few days at a time.
Wiki
My item for the picnic wiki was bratwurst and buns. I don't recall reading that anyone else was bringing bratwurst or sausages.
I found the wiki very easy to use and had no problems adding to the picnic list or the sidebar.
At the moment I don't have a need for wiki, but I can see some great possibilities down the road. I belong to a Canadian Rubber Stamping group with members all across the country. The wiki would be a great place to write shared stamping tutorials. All the members could add to it and edit it making the tutorial that much better. I will have to tell my fellow members about this wonderful new tool.
My brother-in-law in Halifax are working on a family tree together. Using a wiki between the two of us would prpabably eliminate some of the confusing e-mails and expensive telephone calls.
This may also be a useful tool at work as all the library technicians in our department have different job site locations. This would possibly be a great communication tool for us to use.
I found the wiki very easy to use and had no problems adding to the picnic list or the sidebar.
At the moment I don't have a need for wiki, but I can see some great possibilities down the road. I belong to a Canadian Rubber Stamping group with members all across the country. The wiki would be a great place to write shared stamping tutorials. All the members could add to it and edit it making the tutorial that much better. I will have to tell my fellow members about this wonderful new tool.
My brother-in-law in Halifax are working on a family tree together. Using a wiki between the two of us would prpabably eliminate some of the confusing e-mails and expensive telephone calls.
This may also be a useful tool at work as all the library technicians in our department have different job site locations. This would possibly be a great communication tool for us to use.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Picasa
I did a search for severl pictures and did not turn one up with any tags on it. I am wondering if this is a popular feature. If I had pictures on Picasa, I would certainly use tags as very fast and efficient method of finding certain pictures in my albums. I like the idea that your albums can remain private if you want them too.
I was surprised to see the photo I used in the header of my blog already in my album in Picasa. I quess I can assume that any photos I have on my blog are automatically assigned to my album? I will have to take a look to see if the photos in my other blog are also in picasa under my other ID.
I like the feature that I can give friends and family an id and password to see my photos/albums, thus only allowing certain people access. I also like the fact that the pictures are stored on-line. Right now they are on my pc and if something should go wrong, then I would have a problem.
However, I am using a very good photo editing software package on my computer that incorporates the features that Picasa has. I can even do intermittent backups and e-mail pictures right from with the package as well as editing and creating new projects. I will take a serious look at Picasa. I do have pictures on line in other web sites such as Photobucket. Sounds like there is a winter project ahead for me in evaluating and deciding on which on-line photo software to use. I do however, like having everything together under one account.
I was surprised to see the photo I used in the header of my blog already in my album in Picasa. I quess I can assume that any photos I have on my blog are automatically assigned to my album? I will have to take a look to see if the photos in my other blog are also in picasa under my other ID.
I like the feature that I can give friends and family an id and password to see my photos/albums, thus only allowing certain people access. I also like the fact that the pictures are stored on-line. Right now they are on my pc and if something should go wrong, then I would have a problem.
However, I am using a very good photo editing software package on my computer that incorporates the features that Picasa has. I can even do intermittent backups and e-mail pictures right from with the package as well as editing and creating new projects. I will take a serious look at Picasa. I do have pictures on line in other web sites such as Photobucket. Sounds like there is a winter project ahead for me in evaluating and deciding on which on-line photo software to use. I do however, like having everything together under one account.
My Favorite Salad
Mexican Salad
1 large head of lettuce chopped
2 or 3 tomatoes chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 sweet onion chopped
1 lg can beans (kidney, chili or Mexican)
1 bottle Catalina French dressing
1 to 1 ½ lbs cheddar cheese grated
1 kg bag of Frito corn chips
Mix and serve immediately or prepare the day before and mix just before serving or cover and refrigerate until needed then mix remaining ingredients when ready to serve.
I have had my account on Facebook for a few years now. I find it an easy way to keep up with family that is spread across the country. We can upload pictures, write on each other's walls and play games with each other.
It bothers me somewhat, that what is put on Facebook is not exactly private. My friends or any of my family's friend's can see most of what our family publishes on Facebook. Usually, I only put anything on Facebook that is not private. For private items I still prefer the telephone. I don't agree that Facebook should be keeping everyone's private information, once they no longer have an account. It will be interesting to see what the Privacy Commission determines about the information that Facebook keeps and what directives it will give concerning this information.
My kids all have Facebook accounts and so does their grandmother, who is on Facebook every day checking up on her grandkids. There have been times when I have received a phone call from my mother about something my kids have said or put on Facebook.
I will continue to use Facebook as it is a communication medium for our extended family to share some events and to post pictures that family members across the country or in another city can see and enjoy. I realize that there are other places on the internet where pictures can be stored and viewed, but for now for our family, Facebook seems to be it.
It bothers me somewhat, that what is put on Facebook is not exactly private. My friends or any of my family's friend's can see most of what our family publishes on Facebook. Usually, I only put anything on Facebook that is not private. For private items I still prefer the telephone. I don't agree that Facebook should be keeping everyone's private information, once they no longer have an account. It will be interesting to see what the Privacy Commission determines about the information that Facebook keeps and what directives it will give concerning this information.
My kids all have Facebook accounts and so does their grandmother, who is on Facebook every day checking up on her grandkids. There have been times when I have received a phone call from my mother about something my kids have said or put on Facebook.
I will continue to use Facebook as it is a communication medium for our extended family to share some events and to post pictures that family members across the country or in another city can see and enjoy. I realize that there are other places on the internet where pictures can be stored and viewed, but for now for our family, Facebook seems to be it.
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