Assignment May 25

3) In your blog, comment on ONE of the following:• Armed with a bit of knowledge about what Twitter is all about, share your thoughts on this fast growing online phenomenon.OR • What kind of information is being posted by the library accounts above? What kind of information should libraries post?

When I did some searching Twitter didn't come up with anything very interesting and relevant for the topics that I am interested in. I can see that Twitter could be interesting for people that want to be connected. On my time off I prefer to be unconnected.

Assignment May 17

3) In your blog, comment on ONE of the following:• Was the site user-friendly? Did you find it difficult to navigate?OR• Do you see any practical applications for LibraryThing either at home or at work? Will you start using this site? OR• If you already use LibraryThing, what’s your favourite part?

This site looks interesting, especially if it does what it claims to do. I had a customer recommend a book to me and I looked it up in LibraryThing. I was very pleased to see the Amazon summary and numerous reader reviews. I can see this site having applications for our work at the Info desk. I will spend more time orienting myself to this site.

Assignment May 10

In your blog, comment on ONE of the following:
• Do you see free online tools like these eventually replacing expensive software like MS Office? OR
• Do you see yourself using these tools or will you stick to more traditional methods. If you were to use one of these tools regularly, which would it be and why?

I think that Google Documents needs a lot more work before it would be able to rival MS Word. Its formatting possiblities are currently very limited.

I may be able to use the Google Calendar. Its being Web based has some appeal. I am working on accessing it from home as well as work. I like the idea of being able to share it with others, so I am experimenting with that aspect of it.

Assignment May 3

3) In your blog, do ONE of the following: • Comment on Flickr and YouTube. Were they user-friendly? OR• Comment on the quality, entertainment value, or usefulness of the content on these sites.

These are fun sights. I was able to get a lot out of Flickr without creating an account. I found some photos of birds that people wanted identified and I was able to do some of this. I can see it could be a useful tool for photographers. A coworker told me of some ways her children were able to create products.
YouTube has a video of my trainer riding my horse in a big competition. I watch it from time to time. My friends also post videos of themselves in competitions on YouTube and I will watch the videos to see how they did.

Assignment April 26

3) In your blog, comment on the following:• Were you able to successfully set up your RSS feed? If not, where did you run into problems? If you were successful, does this make information-gathering more convenient for you?

I found RSS frustrating. There is a lot of new information and the pages are very busy. I found that I had to do a lot of reading to get anywhere. Even so, I don't really think that I got much accomplished. The websites that I am interested in don't seem to have RSS feed on them. I can see that this might be a useful tool for sometime in the future and I am grateful for being introduced to it.

Assignment April 19

2) Try out one of the Google programs or services, and write a brief blog post reviewing it.

3) In your blog, comment on the following:

• What do you like about the Google product? What do you dislike? Would you recommend the product to friends and colleagues?

I really enjoy using Google maps. I personally use it often to find the quickest route to drive somewhere. I also like to see the satellite view of places, especially if they are outside of the city. I teach Cyberseniors and they have fun looking at the different features. They enjoy the street view and the satellite view of their residential area. I definitely recommend Google maps. The seniors that I teach however have some difficulty with the format of addresses and how to find what they want if it doesn't come up immediately.

I am just staring to investigate Google Chrome. It certainly seems faster, but it also seems to have features that are not in Google. For example in blogspot I don't remember being able to change the font or do a spellcheck in Google.

Assignment April 12

• For you, is Facebook useful or a time-waster?

For me Facebook is a real time waster. When I have spare time and energy I want to spend it outdoors not on a computer. I have difficulty keeping in touch personally with people that are important to me and feel no need to keep in touch with others in what seems to me to be such an impersonal way.