I didn't officially register for the original 23 Things on a Stick, but I did complete most of the Things and blogged about some of them. I decided to make it official this time through, so I am signing up for More Things on a Stick. Yay! This blog is a 'refreshed' version of my old one. The older posts are cut and pasted from the old blog. I have done a bit of blogging since the end of 23 Things. I don't enjoy the actual writing as much as I enjoy experimenting with new widgets, photos applications, videos, etc. I also really enjoy adding photos and links.
I read quite a few blogs. Most of them via Google Reader which I am loving more and more every day! My brother and his girlfriend moved out of state recently and it is a really nice way to keep tabs on what they are up to. And vice versa I hope.
I do comment on blogs. Right now that is limited to people I know. However, recently a read a local foodie blog that criticized one of my favorite restaurants. They had good points but I feel that I could add some good points too. The only question, which blogger identity to comment under? Yikes!
I am excited to learn more and appreciate all the hard work that has gone into both rounds of this wonderful learning tool.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thing 12 - Social Media Sites
I am interested in what other people are reading about on the web, but I think I prefer to read stories organized by subject rather than popularity. I do think this is a way to find news stories that are not covered by the biggies that pop up on my computer screen like CNN and YahooNews. Like this one for example which I found on Reddit. But I am also skeptical about the reliability of some of the news sources of course.
Newsvine is okay and I do like Mixx because of the way you can choose your subject.
Newsvine is okay and I do like Mixx because of the way you can choose your subject.
Thing 11 - Tagging and Delicious
This morning I started an experiment. I got rid of all my bookmarks (at work) and put them into del.icio.us! Sounds crazy huh? I will probably regret it, but seriously, I am going to try to organize all of the websites that I use on a regular basis and try to make a habit of adding new ones that could help me in the future.
The major challenges are: tags can't be more than one word (ugh!), I have to remember to log myself in at the beginning of the day and I also need to remember to tag as I bookmark, because it can be a drag to go back and tag everything when I make a new cluster. I am excited that my tag cloud can go into Facebook. I doubt anyone really cares about my tags, but whatever.
The major challenges are: tags can't be more than one word (ugh!), I have to remember to log myself in at the beginning of the day and I also need to remember to tag as I bookmark, because it can be a drag to go back and tag everything when I make a new cluster. I am excited that my tag cloud can go into Facebook. I doubt anyone really cares about my tags, but whatever.
Thing 10 - Wikis
First of all, if you want to see a great short video explaining how a wiki works (mom?) watch this YouTube video by Common Craft. Wish I had thought of this!
I have used and/or started about 4 or 5 wikis in my day and it hasn't really caught on with me as an every day thing or a super useful tool. I think my problem involves the number of people involved. One of the first wikis I was involved with failed because there were only 4 of us, and we communicate very well over email. Another one failed because the purpose was not clear. Another one failed because well, the purpose was also not clear. And if I can complain just a little bit, I have too many passwords, and the wiki ones are frequently forgotten.
I love wikis don't get me wrong. I am determined to make one successful. Success=participation by many folks on an ongoing basis. I also think wikis are hard to customize. You need to know stuff that I don't know yet. I like to make websites so I guess I would rather do that and make it look pretty. But that defeats the wikiness of the whole thing, because then I am the only one who can edit and who wants that? Boring!
I have used and/or started about 4 or 5 wikis in my day and it hasn't really caught on with me as an every day thing or a super useful tool. I think my problem involves the number of people involved. One of the first wikis I was involved with failed because there were only 4 of us, and we communicate very well over email. Another one failed because the purpose was not clear. Another one failed because well, the purpose was also not clear. And if I can complain just a little bit, I have too many passwords, and the wiki ones are frequently forgotten.
I love wikis don't get me wrong. I am determined to make one successful. Success=participation by many folks on an ongoing basis. I also think wikis are hard to customize. You need to know stuff that I don't know yet. I like to make websites so I guess I would rather do that and make it look pretty. But that defeats the wikiness of the whole thing, because then I am the only one who can edit and who wants that? Boring!
Thing 9 - Collaboration Tools
This 'Thing' is all about exploring online collaboration tools such as GoogleDocs and Zoho. We have made use of both in my library so far. We are currently using Zoho Writer to write a script for a library orientation video/slideshow we are producing. We have used GoogleDocs to store presentations to be given off campus. I think I prefer Zoho. It has so many editing tools and I like the tabs at the top that correspond with each document. There are over 18 applications and most of them are free!
I wish I had this in grad school. It would have been so slick for group projects instead of the old fashioned emails going back and forth with highlighted text.
I wish I had this in grad school. It would have been so slick for group projects instead of the old fashioned emails going back and forth with highlighted text.
Thing 8 - Share your creations
I made this slideshow using PictureTrail.
You can increase or decrease gaudiness as you see fit. I could see this service being very helpful for more personal endeavors. I made the slideshow as small as I could but as you can see the right side is cut off. Perhaps another tool such as Slideshare would give me more flexibility and customization.
The photos in the slideshow are different textures that can be found in the library where I work. Do you recognize any?
I really wanted to try out Lazybase (an online database creator) but the page is not loading for me. I will try later.
EFolio is also mentioned in this thing. When Christian was in grad school for education, they had to use this as a resume/cv/portfolio tool. I am not sure if it actually came in handy for him, but it seems like a great idea. Instead of reworking your resume all the time you can just update this. Or maybe you would have to do both?
You can increase or decrease gaudiness as you see fit. I could see this service being very helpful for more personal endeavors. I made the slideshow as small as I could but as you can see the right side is cut off. Perhaps another tool such as Slideshare would give me more flexibility and customization.
The photos in the slideshow are different textures that can be found in the library where I work. Do you recognize any?
I really wanted to try out Lazybase (an online database creator) but the page is not loading for me. I will try later.
EFolio is also mentioned in this thing. When Christian was in grad school for education, they had to use this as a resume/cv/portfolio tool. I am not sure if it actually came in handy for him, but it seems like a great idea. Instead of reworking your resume all the time you can just update this. Or maybe you would have to do both?
Thing 7 - Communication Tools Cont'd
Text Messages: Had to upgrade to the 400 a month plan. I don't send/receive 400 every month but it is better than paying 5 cents a piece!
Web Conferencing: I was introduced to web conferencing and webinars in my current position. Every time a database gets an upgrade, or we are considering purchasing a new one, we usually participate in an online webinar. Some are good and some are really, really bad. But most of the time they are amusing. For example, during one webinar a participant realized that they could use their mouse to doodle on the shared conference screen (I think this was not supposed happen). I started moving my mouse to see if I could do it too...I could. Other people started doodling too and before we knew it we saw.......b....o....b....a....m....a. Hee hee it was very funny!
Other misadventures have included barking dogs (several), door-to-door salespeople knocking during a presentation and of course, technical difficulties. I think tools like this are saving people time and money. Not as much need for expensive travel to business meetings. With this method, documents and presentations can be shared. Participants can comment and take part, but also be anonymous if they want to be (mute button). I have not participated in an OPAL offered conference yet but it is on my to do list.
Web Conferencing: I was introduced to web conferencing and webinars in my current position. Every time a database gets an upgrade, or we are considering purchasing a new one, we usually participate in an online webinar. Some are good and some are really, really bad. But most of the time they are amusing. For example, during one webinar a participant realized that they could use their mouse to doodle on the shared conference screen (I think this was not supposed happen). I started moving my mouse to see if I could do it too...I could. Other people started doodling too and before we knew it we saw.......b....o....b....a....m....a. Hee hee it was very funny!
Other misadventures have included barking dogs (several), door-to-door salespeople knocking during a presentation and of course, technical difficulties. I think tools like this are saving people time and money. Not as much need for expensive travel to business meetings. With this method, documents and presentations can be shared. Participants can comment and take part, but also be anonymous if they want to be (mute button). I have not participated in an OPAL offered conference yet but it is on my to do list.
Thing 7 - Communication Tools
Email: Think I got this one down. A lot of our business takes place via email here at the Medical Library. We receive/send literature searches, article requests, questions, automatic updates, professional listservs, class registrations and much more via email. I help a lot of people every day and sometimes I don't even know what they look like because all of our correspondence has been over email. We were actually just talking about email at a meeting this morning. We were trying to think of how we could keep stats on the work we do over email...any ideas?
IM: Never really understood IMing. It seems like email is a fast enough way for me to have an online conversation with someone. It is almost instantaneous, right? In any case, I installed GoogleTalk and then realized I don't have anyone to talk to!!! Lonely. I invited my co-worker to join too. And then we can talk through a wall.
Time to go home, more tomorrow!
IM: Never really understood IMing. It seems like email is a fast enough way for me to have an online conversation with someone. It is almost instantaneous, right? In any case, I installed GoogleTalk and then realized I don't have anyone to talk to!!! Lonely. I invited my co-worker to join too. And then we can talk through a wall.
Time to go home, more tomorrow!
Thing 6 - Image Generators
Have you ever tried Image Chef or any other image generator? If not, you should. They are really helpful at work or for fun. Tried posting directly from their site and had a little trouble. Also I don't trust 100% that they won't hack into my blog when I give them my password to post.
Some others to try: http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/
http://www.toondoo.com/Home.on
or for for information on Image Generators:
http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/
I think you can also use these easily with MySpace and Facebook!
Some others to try: http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/
http://www.toondoo.com/Home.on
or for for information on Image Generators:
http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/
I think you can also use these easily with MySpace and Facebook!
Thing 4 - Flickr and Picnik
This is a mosaic that was custom made for our library! The actual mosaic is beautiful and hangs in the conference room. I edited this photo using a photo editing application within Flickr called Picnik. I edited the colors and also added a necktie! There are Basic and Premium features, and you guessed it, you have to pay for the Premium features which are way cooler than the Basic ones.
Thing 4 - Images
For 'Thing 4' we are supposed to play with Flickr. Since I am already pretty familiar with it, I decided to figure out how to post from Flickr directly to my blog. This is super easy to do. You just click 'Blog This" above the photo in Flickr, and then choose which of your blogs you want it to go to. So if you are reading this post--I was indeed successful. I am sure you will be seeing more of my Flickr photos in the future.
This is a photo taken last fall at Mike and Tracy's house. We met them in 2005 in China, but went to visit them near London last year!
This is a photo taken last fall at Mike and Tracy's house. We met them in 2005 in China, but went to visit them near London last year!
Thing 3 - RSS Feeds Cont'd
Okay so now I am familiar with Google Reader. If you know a good feed or think I should read all of your blog updates, let me know the url. This reader seems easier to use than others I have tried. Maybe because it is Googlified and everything they touch seems to turn to gold. My co-worker pointed out that it is convenient because once you sign into Google, you can do everything at once. Blog, read your feeds, check your email, make PDFs, etc. I like that.
Thing 3 - RSS Feeds
Hhhhmm. I am supposed to learn about RSS feeds. I have set up several feed-readers in the past that are now long forgotten. If I do another, will it really help me organize all the news that I want to keep up on? Right now I prefer listservs and email newsletters, but I guess I could change my ways if I really try. RSS is a great tool. I will give it another go and let you know.
Thing 1 - Setting up a blog
I missed the deadline to register my blog with 23 Things on a Stick http://23thingsonastick.blogspot.com/, but I am going to do all the 'Things' anyhow. They may not be as library-related as they are supposed to be...
I created my first avatar. The lovely cartoon lady you see to the right is me running on the Great Wall with my sixteen year old cat Maggie! She is Siamese, so perhaps she is close to her homeland (Thailand?). And me, well I just like China and all things Chinese.
I created my first avatar. The lovely cartoon lady you see to the right is me running on the Great Wall with my sixteen year old cat Maggie! She is Siamese, so perhaps she is close to her homeland (Thailand?). And me, well I just like China and all things Chinese.
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