Thing 43. Online TV & Video

Thing 43. Since Adobe Flash Player 10 is not loaded on my work computer, I was not able to actually view anything. Unlike the Music 2.0, Online TV & Video has more appeal to me. (I'll will try accessing this on my home computer.) I discovered several silent movies and some old television shows that interested me. Now...the problem with viewing this on a computer is that it would be difficult for me to do other tasks at the same time. When I watch shows on a standard television set, I can clean, crochet, etc. when viewing a program.

My husband watches less television than I do so the online tv won't be something he would explore. Also, if we use our home computer to view various programs, we are being charged for the connect time. Since we don't have cable or satellite tv access, we are not paying a fee to view shows.

Thing 42. Music 2.0

Thing 42. As I get older and want to have less noise in my life, I have gotten to the point where I never turn the radio on anymore. As a result, I could care less if regular radio broadcasts ceased.

I really do not have a particular internet station that I would recommend, but I would recommend Radio-Locator as a comprehensive internet radio station search engine.

Thing 46 WebJunction Minnesota

Thing 46. I always feel like such an idiot when the public wants me to help them with software applications such as Powerpoint. For me, the most valuable piece of Thing 46 is to take the online classes in an effort to improve my ability to use the computer software apps. I have not taken a class yet, but I will.

The calendar of library events is certainly helpful. It is nice to have this info in one place.

At this point, I'm not sure what else should be added to the WebJunction site.

Thing 45. Cloud Computing

Thing 45. I read Greg Cruey's article titled "Cloud computing for the masses." It was a good overview of what is happening with cloud computing. Recently, I had seen a program on tv (can't remember the name of the program)about this topic. I have found this concept interesting but I do not do any computing in the "cloud." I have to confess I did not know that I was already using the cloud concept by using yahoo. It does make sense though.

Thing 44. The Economy

Thing 44. Well...I am married to an economist so there was very little that was new to me. The most beneficial thing I discovered was the twenty plus tools for finding coupons online. Since I am married to someone who loves economics, it is essential for me to find bargain hunting sites.

I am not sure of the value of Thing 44.

Thing 41. Mashup Your Life

Thing 41. I tried to view the Friendfeed.com's video but it did not work. I decided to investigate Perssonas site. I got as far as seeing what was required to mash all the apps together but I did not officially register with them. I have to say that I deactivated my Facebook account and never use the other social networking tools. If this kind of activity mattered to me and it does not, I could see the benefit of accessing all these sites in one convenient location.

Thing 40. Mashup the Web

Thing 40. I viewed the YouTube video titled What Is A Mashup? It was a good, general overview of mashups. I explored the range of YouTube's mashups. I found the travel mashups of particular interest. Since I am not a fashion queen, I experimented with the express your style via Polyvore. It was fun to create the outlandish outfits that I would never wear in real life.

Again, I hate to repeat myself, but most of the library staff won't be creating mashups for the library. Since I spend my spare time exercising and crocheting, I will not be creating mashups at home.

Thing 39 Digital Storytellilng

Thing 39. For persons interested in scrapbooking, this was a great learning tool. I read all of the info listed under Everything About Scrapbooking. What I really liked was Scrapblog. That site made scrapbooking easy. A lot of what they offered was free but if you wanted to purchase a page from them, you could. Learning about Scrapblog was the best part of Thing 39. I would only do scrapbooking at home.

Thing 38. Screencasting

Thing 38. I tried viewing Screen-o-matic's How to Create a Screencast, but my computer did not have have the correct version of JAVA. I switched to viewing the Jing tutorial but found the music interfered with the content--an example of a how not to do screencasting! The best overview that I found was Smashing Magazine's article titled Screencasting: How to Start, Tools & Guidelines. I am someone who would benefit from this type of instruction but I am not someone who could do screencasting unless I had more formal instruction. This is not something I could do at work or at home without more help. At least I know that screencasting exists.

Thing 37. Photo Tales

Thing 37: Since I never really figured out Flickr during the first 23 Things and I almost never use my husband's digital camera, I found #37 impossible to do. I guess the one good thing about reviewing this category is to see what one can potentially do with one's digital photos. I could see how these tools could be helpful when teaching a class. I really need a real live person to help me learn Flickr!!!

Thing 36 Comic Relief--Generate Some Fun

Thing 36: I picked the Generator Blog. Some of the items were simply silly and some were useful such as the design your own t-shirt. I checked out the ToonDoo and selected the Crazy Library cartoon. The cartoon showed a librarian telling patrons to be quiet. I used the Historic Tale Construction Kit under the Middle Ages Comics but I could not load it on my blog. I was able to email it to my personal email. In fact, I think I will send my family birthday greetings via this tool.

I could see the library's publics relation person using this tool, but I would not be able to use the comic generating tools for my work.

Thing 35. Books 2.0

Thing 35: In my branch that serves a higher income population, there continues to be a large appetite for the printed word. In fact, I amazed at the number of patrons who have mentioned that they have recently returned to reading as a leisure activity. The Book 2.0 tools that I investigated were primarily from the Readers' Advisory category. I even used a couple of the websites to help me get a list of similar authors. I made sure the websites were put in my work email folder.

Thing 34 Is It Competition? Online Answer Sites

Thing 34: I read the Future of the Reference Desk, That Thing You Do & Evolution to Revolution. The article that really resonated with me was the second one. It was a balanced approach as to what libraries are really doing for the public. The author made the point that 2.0 is catching up with us (libraries). We have always been a social meeting place. Yes, we need to be aware of how we need to change to be relevant. Frankly, the online answer sites have evolved into just another social "network." Some of the answers seem to be quite good, but mostly it has turned out to be another place to "connect" with the world. I have not been involved in any of the slams, but it is a reminder to the public that the library is a good place to get real info.

Thing 33 Travel 2.0

Thing 33: I read the article What is Travel 2.0. When my husband and I traveled to England and Wales last September, we had already used TripAdvisor. I did not realize that Expedia owned TripAdvisor. Green Routes (green businesses in Minnesota & elsewhere) would be a helpful site for our library to bookmark.

Thing 32: Google Maps & Mashups

Thing 32: I viewed the videos of Google Maps Introduction and How to Create a "My Map" in Google Maps. I was able to do a street view for my own address, but when I plugged in my son's address, the street view was not an option. I created a map of how to get from my home to my church. There ARE a lot of map options on the internet.

#31 Thing More: Twitter

#31 Thing: Since I do not use Twitter and have no intention of ever using it, this Thing was not helpful to me. I did review the Limitations of Twitter, Twittering Tips for Beginners, Love It, Hate It...& What Exactly is the Point of Twitter. Frankly, I have even given up using Facebook. It really has no relevance to my life! In fact, it was annoying me. I kept receiving chain letter type requests and as a result, I deactivated my account.

#30 Thing More Ways to Use RSS & Delicious

#30 Thing: I have to confess that I have not looked at either my Blogline or Delicious accounts since we did the original 23 Things. I did review Take A Tour under FeedRinse and looked at ReminderFeed. Also, I viewed the video titled Networking with Delicious.

#29 Google Tools

#29 Google Tools: Since I already get my free email through yahoo, I investigated the Yahoo Alerts. I am a Minnesota Twins fan, so now I get an alert whenever a player or the team does anything newsworthy. The alerts have been overwhelming! For me, this would work out better if the topic I had picked had not been so popular.

I viewed all of the videos under Google News, SearchWiki and Web History. It was interesting to find out how Google organizes its search engine to try to better serve the public. Since I do not have a gmail account, I did not explore each of the above categories in an in-depth way.

#28 Thing Customized Home Pages

After viewing several videos, I chose to go with My Yahoo. I already have free email through yahoo, so I found this to be the easiest choice. My Yahoo offers several ways to customize a homepage. I chose several of the basic ones such as the local news and weather. My Yahoo has made it so convenient that they practically do it for you.

#27 Thing Twitter

#27 Thing: I watched the YouTube videos and read several of the overviews including the one directed towards librarians. That overview pretty much said if you don't like micro-blogging, do not do it. Well, I really hate it. I never really wanted to join Facebook but I did it for training purposes. I think it is one of the dumbest things I have ever seen and is mostly a waste of time.

I suppose Twitter could be used to make brief announcements about library news and activities.

Thing 26 Join the 23 Things Ning

#26: I joined Ning after Round 2. No, I did not join any other groups. So far, our library system has not widely used Ning. Our libraries primarily use email. Facebook seems to winning the race regarding the personal social networking.

I did post a comment and viewed the video titled Kirk Should Have Been a Librarian.

#25 Thing. Bloggers' Toolkit

#25 Thing: First of all, I watched all the tutorials. If I had any interest in the blogging world, I could see how the widgets would really spruce up a blog. I added Google's news gadget to my blog. I did not experiment with any of the other widgets because I am not personally interested in the blogging world. Also, I cannot believe that the library system would allow me to blog on behalf of my library. I only spent an hour with this "thing."

Thing 24 Refresh Your Blog

#24 Thing: I have not blogged since I completed the 23 Things. Frankly, my spare time is taken with exercise and crocheting. I have no desire to spend a lot of time on the internet.

I made small changes to my profile.