Week 8: #19 Web-based Apps: They're not just for desktops

I signed up with Zoho Writer http://writer.zoho.com/index.do and read through the introduction by Helene Blowers. I can totally see someone in the business world using this web site. The idea of being able to access documents from any computer and having instant collaboration with colleages you need to share them with is a great idea. I like the fact that the user doesn't have to download any software. I guess this would be a great tool for students who are doing group projects. They could work on the project together and not have to leave the comfort of their homes or dorm rooms. I e-mailed the website for my husband to checkout in case he's not aware of it.

Week 8: #18 Social Networking: Making friends in the comfort of your own home

I checked out "My Space" http://www.myspace.com/ to see what it was like, as I hear it mentioned so much in the media and by word of mouth. It was actually a pretty well designed website with alot of attractions on it to entice you to peruse. I originally thought that it was just someplace kids go to tell others about their lives, interests, likes and dislikes, etc., but it had much more to offer. I did not sign up, however, as I really don't have the time to chat with total strangers. I have a hard enough time just keeping up with my family and friends. I also took a short tour of "Yahoo 360", "Zanga.com" and " Threadless." "Yahoo 360" was not interesting to me at all. It seemed to be more of a site to really just create a blog. I watched a video blog on "Zanga" about table tennis. I guess it was advertizing a video game or something. Maybe that's why I didn't find it appealing. The last website, "Threadless" was a t-shirt site to order t-shirts. I think this must appeal more to kids or twenty somethings. The only t-shirts I like are the souvenir shirts I buy from places I visit. At least now I know what some of these chat rooms are like when I hear about them in conversations.

Week 7 #17 Technology

My husband says I am "technologically challenged". Perhaps that's true to a certain degree, but I don't think I'm completely lacking in ability. I personally feel that technology could be much easier if users manuals and instructions for equipment and gadgets were written in basic English in simple terms that the average person could follow. One has to wonder if technology writers puposely use their own jargon and vague directions to make it impossible for the reader to understand. I actually can now use the universal remote to play a dvd only because my husband wrote the directions down step by step so I could follow them. Don't ask me to do anything else with that remote however especially when it comes to Tivo programming or cycling through menus, etc. Technology is great, but if a gadget is too difficult to navigate, it will get minimal use or no use at all. I read an article in the paper that talked about how people love new gadgets and electronic toys and the latest in technology. But after purchasing them, they don't know how to use them to thier fullest advantage because some of the items are just too complicated, or the buyer thinks they're too complicated, and they can't figure out how to use them on their own. Even something as simple as our self-checkout machines is intimidating for many of our customers unless our staff shows them how to use the machines. Technology is advancing every day. I'm looking forward to it being more user friendly.

Week 7 #16: So What's in a Wiki

http://ihcpl.pbwiki.com/Favorite%20Books?doneLogin=b8c0a0b69d2b6f2f8e5360d94d4add0c6b9fb108 I looked at this wiki and found it pretty interesting to read. I don't know as I would ever post anything myself, but I guess if you are really excited about a book, this would be a good site for you to share your enthusiasm with others.

Week 6 #15: Library 2.0 and Web 2.0

The library of my childhood no longer exists in the face of new technologies, perspectives, and services. The internet has opened up the world to the information highway, in ways that are continually evolving and to which libraries must keep up or face becoming extinct. Our services will need to be more user friendly so that customers can easily understand them on their own and not require training to do this. We will need to be proactive to plan for user needs and not hinder them. Basically, I think this all comes down to adapting to change and learning from our successes and failures.

Week 6: #14 Getting not-so-technical with Technorati

I did the keyword searh "Learning 2.0" The blog posts were 561, the tags were 666, and the Blog Directory was 683. The results were definitely different. So then I went to popular blogs, searches and the videos. I thought the video clips were interesting especially since I was thinking of going to see the new "Elizabeth" movie. I was surprised at how many popular blogs there were in Technorati. It would seem a lot of people have a lot of time on their hands or they never do anything else except sit in front of a computer. I must admit, I had to check out the celebrity blogs.

Week 6: Tagging # 13

At first, I really didn't understand what del.icio.us was. Being rather computer illiterate in a previous life, I didn't know what bookmarking and tagging was all about. But after a co-worker explained it to me, I can see its advantages. I could not get the tutorial video to work for me. It just quit after the first minute. I tried it on two different days with the same result, so maybe if I could have heard it all the way through, the lesson initially would have made more sense. But now I am slowly coming around. If I weren't so nervous about hitting a wrong key on the computer and ending up in computer cyberspace and messing up my lessons, I would probably have a lot more fun with all this new information. It is really a cool thing to have the opportunity at work to be introduced to all of this!