Blogger how to You Tube videos
These are from Blogger.
These are from Blogger.
I looked at both Zoho and Google.
I like that in Zoho you can more easily switch between the apps. I found it more difficult to do so in Google.
Both appear to let you export the documents. The ZoHo documentation states that with a plugin documents can be edited offline and synchronized with the online document. I like that feature because you could work on a document on a laptop when you don't have an internet connection.
I installed the plugin for Google notebook but quickly uninstalled it again. It is a very invasive plugin and I was concerned that it might interfere with the security of Aleph. The plugin attaches itself to every window, even popups, which Aleph web based uses.
Either application would accomplish what NetFiles was supposed to do. I haven't explored NetFiles since this summers security warning. I'll have to keep exploring both Google Docs and Zoho apps to see if either would be feasible for my personal use. Currently I store documents on my hosted domain but that is ackward since I have to download the document, edit and upload again. I would like access to the documents when away from both my work and home computers.
So I got a little side-tracked while looking at the Web 2.0 awards short list http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0/short
I was looking at the winners for podcast and visited ODEO http://odeo.com/ . From there I stumbled on The Onion radio news. http://www.theonion.com/content/node/68880 What a delight to find this type of clean and dry humor. I've tagged the site in my del.iciou.us account so I can find it again. A great way to add humor to a Friday afternoon. :))
On a more serious note, I also tagged the short list of Web 2.0 award winners and will spent time looking at more of the tools.
The articles in the Discovery resources are most likely more pertinent to the librarians and managers but are still relevant to all staff. I particularly like the article “To a temporary place in time”. I want to be around and participating in the neo-library.
I am looking forward to the tagging possibilities in the upcoming upgrade to the library catalog. It should be exciting especially with my love of del.icio.us.
Technorati,
I looked through the popular searches and read through the help FAQ and don't think this is something I will even sign up an account for. The pages are easy to read even with the usuall clutter of adds so prevalent on "free" service sites.
With the blogsphere so large I think it would be unlikely that I'd find a blog that I was overly interested in enough to spend much time reading it.
I think with all the technology choices we have for finding information that we, as information consumers, have to make choices as to where we will get our news and information. The blogsphere isn't my choice.
This is one of the Learning 2.0 technologies that I fell in love with. The other of course being RSS feeds.
I created an account. I discovered that I could import my booksmarks so didn't have to visit each of the sites and add them to my account. That saved a lot of time. Once I found out that doing so would autamatically add the folder name as a tag to the links I decided I needed to first clean up my favorites. I had so many outdated links and things not in folders. Once I had all the links in folders I was much happier with the del.icio.us tags. I found the instructions on the del.icio.us site on how to delete all previously imported bookmarks. Not very easy, but at least fast. You have to delete and recreate your account. This is one of the few sites that lets you use the same user name for the newly created account. Most won't let you use the same user name if you delete the account.
All in all this one of the technologies that I will continue to use. See my blog entries for creating a Network badge.
Wiki's, I love the concept.
How well they work depends on the software behind the wiki. The UM Wiki software has more than a few problems. PB wiki is by far the easiest to use but I also like Zoho wiki. I started a Zoho wiki for storing information about the plants in my yard. However, I am reluctant to put too much effort into an online product that may or may not be there in the future.
I think that wiki's are a great method for storing sharing procedures. I hope the UM Wiki software continues to improve. There as an upgrade in August that did improve the "edit" screen so text formatting isn't quite as formidable. See my other entries on the wiki's I've created for procedure manuals.
This is yet another online tool that I spent very little time looking at.
I can see the usefulness of a site like http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/ but it's not for me. What I find interesting is the increasing number of "widgets" available on sites. I am also amazed at the number of web pages that have an "Ads by Google" section. I realize that Google is powered by ads but I am still uncomfortable with the ads targeted to specific interested based on, I suspect, my browsing history. I think I'll stick to a pc based program if I want to create images, that or my camera. :))
Update - once again I'm proven wrong. Another staff showed me what she had done with
FD Tools http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/ and it was amazing. I played with it some more and can really see the fun factor in using this. The advantage is that you don't need to purchase, install and learn software. Something I like to do :)) However, for those doing a limited number of projects the online image generator would be a good choice.
I explored and played with "Library Thing" but did not create an account. I just couldn't handle one more online account. I think the concept behind Library Thing is geat for those who are catalogers at heart, which I'm not. I think I'd be more interested if I could catalog my video and music collections. I thought the Groups forums were interesting and I ended up getting very sidetracked. :) This isn't a site I'll be activily using though or even actively visiting.
So I started playing with Rollyo and found the searching to be very useful. However, I am disturbed by the adds on sites I visited from Rollyo. I did a search on "soffits" in the "Home Repair" search. I found information on soffits on Bob Villa's site. I clicked that link and guess what. Lots of information about soffits, but something else. Something very disturbing. An add for contractors to help with the hail damage in Duluth Minnesota. Now I'd cleared the cache and deleded all files in IE prior to playing with Rollyo. Something I make a habit of doing. However, either Rollyo or http://www.bobvila.com/ is finding information on my computer that locates me in Duluth Minnesota. I am very uncomfortable with sites that track my information. I tried the same search in FireFox and this time the "adds by Google" were general adds, not specific to my location. It seems the culprit is IE and Google. I'll have to keep exploring the way my personal information is tracked and possible avoid using those sites.
In his book “The Secret of Shambhala” author James Redfield presents the idea that the role of technology is to further the human culture.
Various characters are discussing technologies role in chapter 8 –
“The intuitions of the baby boomers were very important because they began to put technology and material abundance into perspective, and to grasp the deep intuition that technology is being developed on this planet to support a culture where we can focus not just on surviving, but on our spiritual development as well.”
“The sons and daughters of the boomers have been characterized as reacting to the boomers’ idealism and ambivalence toward technology by becoming more practical and, in fact, developing a love for technology beyond anything seen before. “
“And now the next generation has come along to focus again on the economy, to refashion technology so that it can consciously support our mental and spiritual ability … instead of allowing technology to fall solely into the hands of those who would use it to restrict freedom and control others.”
I have long been enthralled with technology as a tool, useful for freeing time and simplifying complex tasks. Since reading this book and combining the ideas presented with the tools/toys explored as part of the Learning 2.0 team I have come to realize that technology can be so much more than a personal tool, that it can be used to unify the peoples of the world and further human culture. Websites such as Facebook, Flickr and YouTube are examples of the uses of technology for that worldwide unification. These social websites expand on the unification efforts started by programs such as hosting foreign exchange students.
I played around some more with Flickr and the impression I first got this summer stands with the exception that now I appreciate the quick easy way of sharing photo's. I'll stick to Google Picasa but at least I have some appreciation for Flickr.
This summer I created an account and uploaded photos, tagged them UMDLibLearn. However I have never been able to find them again. I deleted my account and tried again. Still no luck. Maybe that's why I like Picasa so much better. I can find my pics again. I do like that I can set the pictures in Picasa to private so I don't have to share with the world unless I want too.
I think a consideration between the two sites is, what works for you. Some may find Picasa easier to use while others find Flickr easier. Go for it and enjoy.
I was first introducted to YouTube when one of the staff here went to New Orleans with a group to help rebuild houses. The group posted video of the experience on YouTube. It was a great way to see what is really going on there. I've explored YouTube a llittle more since then. I looked at Google and Yahoo videos but am not pleased with the type of content available on them so will stick with Youtube.
I found this interesting video and am going to embed it.
Photo Wall - I could see the advantage of using this for a special event, like a wedding or party. For daily use though I don't see me using it. I clicked on one of the adds for a photo book and that idea is interesting. A nice way to create personalized gifts for friends and family.
I wrote the below comment back in July when I was exploring Flickr as part of the Learning 2.0 team. I still am not fond of Flickr, I find it confusing. However I fell in love with Google Picasa.
I really don't see the point of Flickr. Maybe I'm just irritated at having to create yet another login and password and another email account. Enough already. Let me use a webmail account I've already created. I'm never going to be checking the Yahoo account anyway.
I'm also not thrilled that other people could be using my photos for their own use. I bought the camera, I took the pictures, it's mine. If you want to use a picture like mine - go take one.
I'm sitting here writing this while listening to a Podcast of an interview with my favorite author, David Allen of Getting things done fame.
I'd seen the podcasts on his website http://www.davidco.com/ before but had no idea of how to listen them. I was able to add it to iTunes and then downloaded it to to my shuffle.
This is great, now when I'm gardening I can listen to something other than music. I'd like to play and figure out how to create a podcast so I'll put a tickle in my someday category of my task lists.
I'm having far too much fun looking for feeds. I started at Technorati. From there I discoved a website "Lifehacker". I subscribed to that feed and think I'm really going to enjoy it. I like the "Seinfeldian chain" concept that I learned about at Lifehack [http://www.lifehack.org/].
Until now I've just subscribed to feeds at sites I usually visit or the few I've stumbled on. I like the idea of searching a site like Technorati to find more topics of interest.
I love RSS feeds.
I like that I have to go to only one place to find out what's new rather than visiting many web pages. I discovered RSS feeds with the new version of Outlook.. Since I use Outlook for organing my tasks I am in the program every day and it takes only a few minutes more to look at what is new in my topics of interest.
I did sign up for a Bloglines account but think I will continue to use Outlook. The advantage of an online account is that I wouldn't need to be at a specific computer to access the feeds I've signed up for. Using a pc based application works for me though. I get feeds for work related interests at work and personal interest feeds at home. It works for me.
Today was the kickoff session. I learned how really important it is to share knowledge. Even though I'd worked on Blogger I still had questions on how to do things. With the help of others I was able to accomplish the tasks I needed to. This was a very exciting day but I will enjoy the down time of sitting in the sun tonight.
So far of all the exercises this is the one I'm the most excited about. It saves so much time and allows me to stay up to date on all my favorite web sites. I get feeds from the The Chronicle of Higher Education, The U.S. Copyright Office, Wilson Stacks Blog, my favorite tech sites and even any updated blogs here on UThink.
Thanks to Dan, Heather and Sue, I got my Jabber account set up and working. I downloaded Pidgin and have that running as I write. It's a very fast and easy way to communicate with someone else.
I set my options in Pidgin to automatically update my status to "unavailable" anytime my mouse and keyboard are inactive for 1 minute. That saves me the time of having to update my status.
I'm all for saving time and I think IM will help do that. It's a lot less time consuming to type a quick question to someone and get their response then it is to call that same person. For one thing, I know they are at their computer, with the phone you have to guess that they are even there.
When playing with wiki's you can choose to create a wiki on pbWiki. http://pbwiki.com/
If you choose to you can share the created pb wiki with the LibLearn team by following the steps below.