The end of a journey

I feel a great sense of achievement that I have managed to reach the end of the programme. I am not a computer junkie so I was rather nervous about what I would be capable of.Some of the exercises took me hours but what a sense of achievement at the end.I know my blog is plain and that I could not do some of the exercises in as much depth as others could but I am glad that I made the journey of discovery.There is so much "interesting stuff" out there and lots to go back to and explore in the future.
Some of the exercises I had heard, about( facebook, Utube)and others had me very frustrated and tearing my hair out,not to mention muttering unpleasant things to the computer.(Royllo and RSS feeds). However after completing the "awards winners" exercise the penny dropped for me as I realised how these things work{tags, feeds }. I wrote about "Geni" in my Blog and received a comment back from the people at Geni.
THanks for the opportunity to participate.

Podcasts

I had a look a podnova and listened to this "open door libraries in the 21 century".

http://feeds.feedburner.com/theopendoor-librariesinthe21stcentury/.
A very thought provoking podcast on change in libraries, on ways to embrace the change and adapt ideas to suit the library.
It made you realise how much change is on the way and how much further we need to go with our learning. We need to become familiar with new computer technology and need to change the whole image of the library.

social networking

Personally I think My space and Facebook should be for what it was intended, a social group and a way for people to keep in touch. Technology is changing rapidly but I feel there is a time and place for everything . Facebook and My space are social sites for users to share and keep in touch with friends and family. I know everyone , including the politicians are using facebook and my space but I really think there are other sites that are more appropriate .There is a place for everything and if people need information there are plenty of other sites they could visit.

#21

I was aware of facebook and my space before this exercise. Everybody seems to belong to one or the other.It seems a great way for people to keep in touch with one another and to be part of what the other is experiencing.
You need to belong to the site to log into it or view peoples profiles, which is a good thing I suppose.However at this stage I have no desire to belong to either .

ebooks

I was very impressed with the kindle.The technology was amazing and it was just like a small paperback book. Think about how fantastic it is for the environment. No more paper,nothing to dispose of once you have read the book or magazine.

http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-com-kindle/dp/B000FI73MA

I also had a quick look at the other sites.
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/m
I tried to look at http://librivox.org/newcatalog/but they were having problems and I could not get into the site.

Youtube

I really enjoyed watching some of the library videos, especially the "L Team" and the"teen rappers". The teen rappers is a great way for youth to get the library message to youth.The videos also put to rest the old library image of a dry , boring old place run by spinsters in twin sets.
I was baby sitting so a just searched for animal clips . My granddaughter and I enjoyed the Chihuahua ones especially" Viva Chihuahuas"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9CbMBrNawo

Web 2.0 Awards GENI

Well it seems I have already been exploring as we constructed a family tree some time ago. Geni came second in the genealogy section for the web 2.0 awards. It is a private forum for members to construct a family tree and history. Members can upload photos , add news etc. Before each persons birthday Geni sends out a reminder email so you can send the birthday person a message. Very handy as you tend to forget. You can also see your place in the family tree and who you are related to.
I think it is a well thought out site , fairly easy to use and useful to keep track of family scattered over the world.

I also had a look around this health site.
http://www.revolutionhealth.com/
As with all these exercises you need hours to explore.

Zoho writer

Well I am amazed at what is out there. Before I started this programme I had no idea that all this "stuff" was there. I have learnt a fair bit on this journey but you need hours to play and get familiar with each site and someone to point you in the right direction if you get stuck.
Zoho writer is a site that needs(for me ) hours spent on it.I just looked at it, and as I did not have hours, just used online word processor to type up this recipe.I was busy coping it for a friend and as I could not think of anything to write about thought I would use it. I could not get my computer to co-operate and download clip art so I just used this picture .

Tarts

 

Fridge milk tart

1 litre of milk                                       125g margarine

3/4 cup of cornflour                              1packet plain biscuits

1 cup sugar                                         3 large eggs

Vanilla essence

Layer a dish base with the biscuits. Mix the egg yolks and the cornflour with 1 cup of milk from the litre.

Add 1/2 tsp vanilla essence. Boil the remaining milk with the sugar and the margarine. Add the egg mixtureto the milk stirring all the time.

Mixture will thicken like custard. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the mixture. Pour mixture gently over the biscuits.

Allow to cool and decorate . ( whipped cream etc.)

Rollyo

http://www.rollyo.com/tifftaro/
Royllo allows you to create your own "personal search engine".You only receive results about any blogs or from any websites that you have included in your searchroll.
Very useful for research, especially if you have preferred search engines.

Library thing

Library Thing is fantastic.What a fun way to catalogue your own little "at home Library". It was simple to join and easy to add books to and search.This was a great exercise.

http://www.librarything.com/profile/tifftaro

Image generators

I played around with flickr jigsaw to create puzzle pictures.
It was fairly simple to upload a photograph and turn it into a puzzle.This will be fun to use for my scrapbook.It also gives you an option to buy the photo puzzle.

This is the URL for the image generator.

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/jigsaw.php

This is the URL for the puzzle photo I created.

http://bighugelabs.com/photos/40c1ebcb3efa238efb365524423b0544/jigsaw3602087

I also had a play with http://www.jellymuffin.com/ but did could not figure out how to save the picture.

Fun with wetpaint

In the beginning I found exercise #12 difficult as I could not log in to the site. But after emailing for help and discovering I was not the problem, I felt better about continuing onwith this journey.

Wetpaint is an easy site to use - through discovering and adding this to the site. It is so simple all you have to do is click the edit button and all the instructions are there to follow.
Even linking my blog page was easy to do - I thought it would be hard but I was pleasently surprised.

Tiff

Wikis

I knew about wikipedia and that anybody could edit and add information. The danger of this is incorrect information. I did not realise that wikis could be restricted to certain people or organisations.
Patrons are always asking for recomended reading material so perhaps shore libraries could start a recomended "good reads" wiki. Patrons could be responsible for adding material and comments to the wiki.We have so many avid readers within our libraries perhaps a couple of them could get it started and manage it.

Web 2.0: Where will the next generation of the web take libraries?

Personally I hope we retain some form of human interaction. I do understand why so much information needs to be stored on the web but I think it will be really sad to be mainly computer based. Far too many people already spend most of their time in "blogland/computerland"interacting with faceless people rather than with family or friends etc.

I wonder if in the future people will loose the ability to socialise ?

In this stress filled, hurried world a smile or greeting from those you come into contact with is often a bright light in your day. You can blog, get information from the net to your hearts content but at the end of it all its just you and a machine.

In my mind nothing electronic will replace the smell and feel of a good book in the hand.

Exploring bookmarks and tags

This challenge was easy - it is a great way to research topics. It is so simple to bookmark and the idea of tags is great.

Looking at the delicious website gave me more insight on how to tag effectively. I have used bookmarking before so it was really simple.

Looking forward to the next challenge

Tiff

Searching for RSS feeds

This challenge was more enjoyable as I could search for what really interested me and put it in my feeds on bloglines.

1) Bloglines was easy to use and I enjoyed finding my own topics to include on my
feed.

2) Technorati website was more user friendly and easy to search.

3) Topix website was very busy to look at with lots of information to look at.

4) Syndic8.com website was offline when trying to search for feeds.

When there is a purpose for searching it is easier to develop your knowledge about feeds, rss etc.

RSS

When I was reading the homework I thought I would be searching for medical sites - RSS sounds very medical. Once I watched the video it gave me more insight to the weeks challenge.

Setting up a bloglines account was simple and user friendly. Putting the feeds onto my account were just as simple and I enjoyed reading the links that came up. Searching the net now I am more aware of the feed icons.

However time is still a barrier as you can sit on the computer for hours and not beware of the time passing by. So think about what really interests you before you put it on your feed.

The links on the exercise were interesting - unshelved had good cartoons and the readers club website was easy to use.

Technorati

Technorati is not for me. Too much information to wade through. I found the site quite difficult, maybe it was just my frame of mind today, but I would rather use other sites to find the information I was after.

I am enjoying learning all the functions on my digital camera. I like the fact that I only need print the photosI really need for my scrapbook. I can also delete the really bad ones and store the rest on the computer, disc or on flickr.
I will be trying to get to grips with the video function on the camera soon.

Amazed....

Wow, talk about a new world of technology. I am so impressed, amazed and shocked by all this new knowledge and technology I am learning. I am so glad I took part in this professional development.

Looking at the different ways you can use fickr has really intrigued me. In the beginning I found the language/web talk confusing i.e. web application, mashups, API etc. but once I set my minb to learning about it, it become really easy and simple.
I found the idea of mashups quite interesting. I was fascinated about how you can use Flickr and another website i.e. google earth or utube to create something else.

I have discovered though that you really do need quite a bit of time to create these things and an openmind when discovering new information. When I have more free time I think I will give the mashups of one of the other tools a try.

The trading card idea was fantastic. I showed my daughter and she enjoyed having a play creating some cards. We had a good laugh at some of the ideas we came up with.

Having fun

Tiff Tiff Taro

Flicking through Flickr

Watching the video on u-tube has given me greater insight to the world of photograhy. I have just purchased a digital camera and am really excited to create an account with Flickr to upload, store and share my photo's. I never thought about how I would feel about losing all those precious photos - so having a back up is a great idea.

I was a little nervous when I uploaded the flickr website - thinking it would be difficult. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and friendly the website is. The photo's on Flickr are amazing and choosing one to share with you was rather difficult. I have found this amazing and talented photograher who captures images to a perfect degree.

Below is the link to the photo I have found rather interesting. It is called 'party of five'. The photograher who took the photo has an amazing eye for detail and focus. Have a look at the photo and you will be amazed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cafrine/2579284884/

Tiffany

Today is the day I start this web 2.0 journey. I really don't know much about any of the exercises so this is going to be a journey of discovery for me.


Hi, my name is Tiffany. I am in the prime of my life . I am green and love going for walks around the neighbourhood or for rides in the car. During the week I spend my days lounging in the sun , weather permitting or protecting the home.