Wrap Up

I've been saving this picture for a special post. I enjoyed most of Web 2.0 and will keep using some of the tools. I think I'll enjoy them more now that I won't have to blog about them.

Arthur C. Clarke said that, "Any technology sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic." That's how I feel about computers. I don't know how or why they work and so I don't have any idea what to do when they don't work. I had kind of hoped that Web 2.0 would give me a clearer idea about how things work.

It was fun to see the tools that are out there. I'm glad to know YouTube has redeeming qualities. LibraryThing is going to be a lot of fun. I think ComicCorner has potential and I have an opportunity to be 'friends' with one of my favorite webcomics on FaceBook. He is British so I should say that he's one of my favourites (I think that's right).

Audio Video Video

YouTube isn't as bad I thought! My dark vision of the future is people spending all day watching other people get hurt on YouTube and IMing the friends they've never really met. I can see now that YouTube could be enjoyable.

YouTube is the best of the video sites, both for format and search results. BlipTV's layout is unappealing. Metacafe and Viddler gave me a lot of irrelevant results. YouAreTV's message when you search a term they don't recognize is, "We can't figure out what you are trying to do." Goodness knows, if there search engine doesn't recognize your query you aren't searching. Jerks.

I don't usually admit this, but I listened to Country music at the end of middle school-beginning of high school before coming over the Alternative and Classic Rock. I would briefly get home from school before anyone else and watch Country music videos until my sister got home. No one else liked Country. I don't miss Country, but there was this one Paul Brandt video I remember really enjoying. I don't remember it well but I know I still like the song.

When I joined iTunes I wanted to buy the video for the "My Heart Has a History" but they didn't have it. It was the first really reasonable thing I'd asked for that they didn't have and marked the beginning of my disappointment with iTunes. Then came the podcasts. I owe Youtube. They not only had it, it was really easy to find!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1BJkl_-Bqg

Just think, he must be an adult by now.

LibraryThing

I think I'm going to enjoy LibraryThing. I've tried keeping track of the books I read in notebooks, but I never do very well. I like seeing the covers and tagging is kind of fun. It will take practice to get really good at tagging. They look kind of messy.

I'm not fond of reviewing. I can't imagine why the general public would care about what I thought of a given novel. I don't really care what they thought. At the same time I'm very afraid I'll sound stupid.

I'm also afraid of spoilers. A review is what you might want to know before you read a book, so you can't give anything way. Especially not the surprises and plot-twists I will want to remember about the book. I don't want to review books so much as I want to write notes to myself about them. I guess that's what the private box is for. Tags might also be spoilers. If someone hasn't read FIGHT CLUB and I multiple personality disorder as a tag, am I giving too much away? I don't know.

http://www.librarything.com/profile.php?view=razedbywolves

Podcasts

I hate podcasts like you can not even believe. I've wasted A LOT of time trying to get them into my iPod from iTunes. While I fail miserably the people around me who know even less about it keep asking the following questions:

Q. Is it working yet?
A. No.

Q. What's wrong with it?
A. I'm not yet sure but I think I've almost got it. (But I'm thinking, If I knew what was wrong with it I'd be making it work!)


I wonder if iTunes is my problem? It doesn't matter, podcasts have been tainted forever, although I did a few to my RSS feeds. I registered for Podcastalley. It is unpleasant, but seems straight-forward enough. There's all this stuff in my account I don't like that seems to be there by default. I wasn't impressed by any of their header, background, or picture choices.

Their searching is also questionable. I asked for libraries and knitting and got 109 results that only mentioned knitting in their descriptions. I had to abandon knitting to be sure I was getting libraries. Podcasts are like everything else on the Internet. There's too much and you can't rely on how it was classified so searching is partly a crap-shoot anyway. I'm afraid my opinion of podcasts really hasn't improved.

Audio/Visual

I played a little with both PROJECT GUTENBURG and MANGO. I think both are good for libraries. GUTENBURG offers access to a lot of material that libraries might not be likely to have, or might not have enough copies of. If patrons went to MANGO libraries might not need as many language sets, and might not need to spend as much time sorting out parts.

I don't think CDs are dead yet. The inevitable march of technology will kill them eventually, but they have some life left in them. I think we're still in an age where more people have the ability to play a CD then to hook up an iPod or other MP3 player, or stream music. I'm not even sure how well the different brands hook-up with each other. A CD is pretty universal, it will work in any CD player. CD players are also easier to use, you just toss it in and hit play.

I'm also interested in the art on and in a CD's cover booklet. You loose most of that if you download the album, as well as any information about the band. I think. I have to admit that I've only downloaded one or two albums. I suppose results vary.

Cool Stuff

I tried two of the things under Cool Stuff, Blog Readability Test and Word Shoot. My blog is rated at college level, undergrad. I tried to get the button but I don't think it came over. That is alright, it isn't an attractive button. Although, it would have fit in well with my collection of unattractive buttons.

Word Shoot is a lot of fun. It took me forever to figure out that it only started if you clicked the word play. If you click anywhere else you go to the complete list of games. I looked everyone on that list and couldn't find Word Shoot. I finally tried searching for it through Google. When that took me back to the original entrance page, I tried clicking play. It's always nice when things work.

I bookmarked the game and I'll have to go back and play it some more later. It's certainly more fun then the pages we typed in high school. A lot messier too. I felt very rusty at first, but I think my typing got better as I went along.

WHERE WAS THIS PROGRAM WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE??!!!! Our computer had one kind of software and every other computer on earth had a different type. I needed to use multiple computers because we only had one and I wasn't the only one in the family who wanted/needed to use it. It was reasonably possible to go back and forth by saving things as text and giving up formating. The whole thing was a mess. No wonder I hated school so much.

It also fixes most of the technical problems of collaboration. We had e-mail back when I was in school, but I don't remember anyone offering to send me attachments. I wouldn't have known what to do with them if they had. Group members had to bring in a printed copy of their work to give to the person typing the report. That person then had to retype everyone's work while trying to form a cohesive style. Although, looking back now I think some of that nightmare could have been avoided if my collaborators and I had understood computers better.

I think Google Docs is the best program we've seen so far in Web 2.0. Some of the others have been fun, but I can't imagine ever needing Facebook or Flicker. Google Docs would have made school so much simpler. My mom never had any sympathy. She kept saying that when she was in school they had to use a type-writer, and then explaining in detail how hard it was to fix errors. Now that the next generation has it so easy I can kind of understand.

Tumblr and Twitter

I am grateful to David Lee King for saying, "If you're asking why you should pay attention, you probably don't have to." Now I feel better about admitting that I'm likely to drop both accounts after the Web 2.0 project is complete.

I think it all comes down to your level of enthusiasm for communicating online. I have even less to say to potential strangers then I do to friends and/or co-workers. There's also something about communicating electronically that kills any desire I have to say anything. I think it's the ability to think things out, rather then simply blurt them out. Few things are worth the effort, and I can't imagine why anyone would want constant updates as to my mood or web-surfing success. Anyway, here's my Tumblr address:

http://razedbywolves.tumblr.com/

And apparently people are interested in constant updates because there has been some pressure to get a Twitter account. I tried but the robot's claw fell off and I think I might have to go back later. If he gets the medical/mechanical help he needs.

Technorati

I'm not having fun on Technorati yet. There are so many blogs that searching is a mess. I can't figure out how to search for specific bloggers. I suppose if you do find your friends or if you find someone you trust it would be convenient to see their lists. It's also dangerous to have to depend on the tags people assign their own blogs. I tried searching the term "learning 2.0" using the different search engines and got wildly different numbers of results.

Percolating seems to favor celebrity news over real news. Of the four top stories yesterday, two involved Britney Speares and Lindsey Lohan and Jennifer Lopez got one each. I don't really care what other people are looking for so Popular didn't appeal either. The majority is very rarely looking for the same things I am.

Wikis!

Citizendium is the biggest disappointment ever! That isn't true, but they've got nothing! I realize they have standards of accuracy that necessarily slow them down in posting stuff, while ensuring that their articles are accurate. I appreciate all that, but so few of the things I tried to look up had articles that I won't bother going back.

I've been enjoying Wikipedia for quite awhile. I know the accuracy is a little questionable, Stephen Colbert highlighted that not long ago. He objected to facts and reality being voted on and urged people to change Wikipedia's elephant article. According to him for awhile it said that elephant populations were on the rise due to the help of Stephen Colbert.

Between misprints, old information, and purposeful lying I think information is a crap-shoot anyway. At least for the general public, I'm sure reference librarians know who to find real information. I hope so anyway. I've lost most of my confidence in absolute facts. I blame congress and the 400 diet plans that are each the only one that works.

But I digress. The video about using Wikis to plan camping trips convinced me that they are useful beyond questionable encyclopedias. I also like the idea of Fugitive Facts.

Playing Around

For the Playing Around Item, I choose Billboard. I looked at most of the others but couldn't think of anything really clever to do with them. I am indebted to Sarah for both suggesting Billboard, and for sending me the picture. She suggested making a mosaic with it and a knitting picture I have. First I couldn't find that option and then I got distracted by the Billboards. Those really could be hours of fun.

In reality the robots are terrestrial and apparently check pollen levels. In the picture they really look like they're warming up for a fight. I wouldn't want to work around them, I'd feel like I needed to watch my back all the time.

del.icio.us

It's always interesting to see other peoples' lists of stuff. Especially if they are very diverse and/or devoid of logical connections. One person I clicked on del.icio.us had a couple's wedding registry in their favorites. I wonder if it was their's or a friends.

From just clicking on things, del.icio.us looks a lot like another search engine but with customer reviews. Personally, I don't put any real stock in customer reviews. They are random strangers and I have no reason to either trust or mistrust their opinions. I usually ignore them online and the one's I did read on del.icio.us didn't seem particularly helpful. They all expressed enthusiasm for the sites in question in a word or short phrase. A vote of confidence with little or no information.

I image if one had an account and was doing serious research it would be useful. It would be especially useful if you were working with other people. It would cut down on the amount time you'd need to spend contacting your partners if everyone could just share resources so simply. The tags were interesting to see. I've gotten enough weird results on keyword searches to wonder where the results come from.

I really feel like I should have more enthusiasm for del.icio.us, I suppose that would come if I had a real stake in the results.

The Cyborgization Process Has Begun!!!

Unfortunately the equipment is still a little klumsy and not very natural looking. And, oddly enough, the phone is a separate accessory and not part of the upgrade. If you can wait a few years I think the technology and style will improve rapidly. That will save you the trouble of having to upgrade. Yes, we'll be living GHOST IN THE SHELL any day now, obnoxious Tachikomas, terrorist attacks on the mind, and everything. What a horrible thought.

I read the article and was amused by the question, "are you real or a robot." I personally had a lot of trouble with the AOL robot who answers their phone. It didn't help that I couldn't stop laughing at it. That was probably my problem right there. The voice wasn't exactly funny, but the pitch and the enthusiasm sounded like an old documentary narrator. Or, more precisely, the parody versions of those narrators. The experience left me thinking that robots should not be handling telephone customer service.

I do think that IMing is a good idea for patron service. The format allows for a much more efficient reference interview then e-mail. Personally, I would prefer it over the phone because I communicate a little better when I don't have to do it in real time. It would be useful to take a second to see what I'm going to say before I say it.

IMs would also be beneficial to patrons who want anonymity either because they feel stupid or embarrassed by their question. Someone might recognize a voice face to face, but not a screen name.

I was glad the article mentioned instant gratification, that was my concern. It seems like with an instant message patron's would expect an instant answer. I would, even though I know that's unreasonable. TeleInfo is very efficient, but no one's ever happy to be transferred into a que. although having said that, I could do other stuff online while I wait so that's better then having to be stuck to the phone indefinitely. It might even give me an excuse to stay on longer and get other things done. I think adding IM to existing library services would be a great idea. Provided we added proper staff so the reference people aren't overwhelmed. Overwhelming people is a horrible idea.

Check out my Meebo widget! It clashes with my site much worse then I thought it would!

Social Networks

I'm all for social networks in general and library participation in particular. Especially if I can continue to ignore them entirely. I'm not a very social person and online communities don't hold a lot of attraction for me. I really, really hate IMs. I prefer e-mails to phone calls. (They're so much easier to ignore.)

The articles weren't entirely clear on this point, but I thought profiles were fairly passive. You find them when you search, but you don't have to click on them. I'm assuming Libraries don't force people to be there friends. If people are looking at the library's profile then it's because they're interested.

It sounds like a quiet way to remind people about the library. The online equivalent of deploying the bookmobile. When people see the bookmobile going down the street they remember the library. At the fair or in the Safeway parking lot it advertises as well as provides library service. Let people see it and think, "I should return those books and ask whatever happened with that last levy!" I think joining online communities is necessary for libraries, although I would personally rather eat glass then have to maintain any such project.

RSS Concluded

Okay! I finished with the RSS unit, to my satisfaction at least. I guess Feedster didn't work for anyone else either. I tried it a couple of times over several days and GOT NOTHING! Now it is crossed out, as it deserves to be!

I can see Topix has a lot of potential for real information. Blogs seem to exist mainly for diaries and opinions, but Topix seemed to be newspaper articles and things of that nature. It is very reminiscent of InfoTrac, but with pictures.

Some of the library blogs were interesting. I added a couple from other countries, (in English), and a few from other libraries in the U.S. Where was FVRL's? I couldn't find it and Multnomah timed me out.

The RSS is working well for most of my web comics. It's odd to see them off their sites like that, and on one of them I loose the links of the day. I never visited any of these links but I am a little irritated to loose the option. Aside from that it's working out very well.

More RSS

I had high hopes for Syndic8 but was confused and disapointed. It just seemed to want me to pay so my site would get more exposure. The way the used the infinity sign as the 8's shadow was clever, but I was expecting them to use an eight ball. Maybe that is copyrighted?

Feedster kept timing out, I never got to play with that one.

Technorati was fun, I think I liked that one best. It seemed to come the closest to what I was looking for. I don't like the way it's set up, the look is irritating. I think the whole RSS think of giving you just a bit and then making you click another link to get to the real site is irritating. Also, those links are too tiny.

The Google Blog search wasn't bad. On one of them I got blocked from looking at a site until I clicked a box and claimed to be 14 because the site might have adult content. It's lucky it did, pineapple cocktails were mentioned. The filth people get away with on the Internet, it's shocking!

Magic!

I need to stop relying on magic to solve my computer problems, it just doesn't work. I spent the weekend, off and on, thinking about RSS Feeds and I figured out what I'd been doing wrong. Somehow I had become convinced that a siter had to have one of those RSS buttons before it could be added. The button was to be clicked and magically something good would happen! Now I realize that it's more a matter of copying and pasteing addresses.

I miss the magic, but I'm getting better results.

My main interest, (in life), is webcomics. The RSS feed will be useful for them because they don't always update as often as scheduled. RSS will keep track of the ones I haven't read and I can check them all from one site. Those are the pros.

The con is mostly that it just shows the comic without the site and I don't like it out of context like that. We will have to see if there are more pros and cons later.

I'm really enjoying adding pictures.

RSS Feeds

This one was REALLY hard, but I have completed the minimum requirements. At least I think I did. I will have to give it a few days and see how I like it and if I did it right enough that it works.

I'm very pleased I managed to sign up for theRSS feed of the webcomic AmazonEss. I'm going to have to try with other webcomics. I remembered reading his blog about setting up the RSS feed and not having any idea what he was talking about.

I've long dreamed of being able to design my own comics page that has only the good comics. Knowing if they're new would be an added bonus. If I'm understanding this correctly it might be perfect! But I feel guilty about the amout of time it takes me to finish any of these units.

I really wanted a picture of Dan Ackroyd reading the news, but Jane Curtain was a close second choice

Ham-hams in a row

I tried to play Flicker Hamster Sudoku but got confused. Also, Sudoku takes me forever with numbers and I didn't know how much worktime I should spend on it. I'll have to try again on my own time.

I think solid colors would be easier then hamsters. The tiny hamster pictures were all about the same color and were difficult to make out.

Numbers are still probably easiest for me, but that's not saying much. I can spend ages on single puzzle then realize I have two sevens in the same box. It's just awful, a source of endless frustration.

But the main problem was that I lost track of which hamsters I had placed and which ones were supposed to be permanent. I think it would let me blank out permanent hamsters, but I'm not entirely sure. I lost track. If you really can remove permanent hamsters then you could play the same game forever, just removing inconvient hamsters until they line up properly.

I failed to get my hamsters in row... but I did add a picture! I am learning!

Invasion on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Invasion on Flickr - Photo Sharing! This is ANOTHER good reason not to eat outside! You might be abducted by alien furniture. That would surely ruin any picnic.

I've noticed that picnic tables are almost always sticky. In the past I blamed earlier dinners for spilling their beers. When you're eating outside there's less incentive to clean up after yourself, even I realize that. But, maybe it isn't beer. Maybe the tables are sticky from rocket fuel.

Other reasons not to eat outside include:
1. Bugs
2. Weather
3. Lack of refrigeration
4. Lack of hand washing/restroom facilities
5. Loose pets
6. Overly aggressive wildlife

I'm sure threre are many other good reasons.

7 1/2 Habits

My favorite habit is 7 1/2. Who doesn't like to play? If I can't play with whatever I'm trying to learn then I'm not going to willingly stick with it.

The hardest habit for me is 2. I understand that to be the habit where you actually GET THINGS DONE. I come from a long line of procrastinators. If I'm having fun with something I'm much more likely to keep working on it.