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!