Thoughts

This program was actually very useful and interesting. I've always considered myself a savvy internet user, but there were many things that we did and used that I had never heard of before or that I hadn't bothered learning. My favorite exercise was the blogging, especially learning to add pictures, videos, links, and different applications (such as the music playlist and my bookshelf).

All in all it was a rewarding experience and I would definitely participate if something were to come up again.

Audiobooks

I remember looking at this service when it first came out and not being to find anything that I was interested in because the collection was so small. I just looked at it again and it has certainly grown; I was pleasantly surprised and will definitely use this application.

Podcasts

I found two podcasts that were interesting to me: NPR: Sunday Puzzle Podcast and the NPR: Books Podcast. I listen to the Sunday Puzzle with Will Shortz every weekend, and now I don't have to get up so early, I can just dl it to my iPod and listen when I have time. I've added this to my Bloglines account, but here's the link to it: http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=4473090

You Tube

I love YouTube. I think it's a great concept, and a website where you can find just about anything. Sure you might see something offensive, but it's also very easy to click the stop button and not have to see what you don't want to. You can find entertainment, music videos, and even educational vids. It's amazing!

I don't know how the library could use YouTube, maybe as an educational tool, as they did when putting up John Callahan's intro to 23 things. They can put up videos explaining things to patrons, etc.

This video is a political message in Spanish by famous Hispanic celebrities campaigning for Barack Obama and the kinds of changes that he would bring. Many people are led by celebrities and what they say, and in this instance I'm not adverse to using them to advance and promote a great message.

Facebook

I'm not much into the social networking, but a friend of mine from college got me started on it a while back, and since I've decided that I really like it. I can talk to or know about people I have not seen in years, or people that I talk to everyday.
I do find it kind of presumptuous that everyone who is a "friend" wants to know how I am feeling right this second. However, they do have the option of not clicking on my name or any of the pictures that other people upload and tag me in.

I don't know how useful this specific type of application would be in libraries, but as a way for coworkers to know more about each other or keep in touch. And such a group already does exist for the PBC Library on Facebook.

ZOHO

All of these applications are pretty awesome. I can think of so many times when I've wanted to write up a document, but because the computer I was on did not have Microsoft Office, I had to use WordPad. And of course, when I opened up that saved document on other computers, the margins and font were usually wrong. 

One thing I do not like about it is that I can't save it straight to my computer (without having to get another Google browser extension) and edit it whenever I want.

I also don't like the idea of saving anything important on a purely online system. Anything I put on spreadsheets would make me nervous having online.

Favorites

An effective way to get more information on what your coworkers are interested in. Depending on what you are using wikis for, they can be very useful.

I never thought I would find an entry on mangos, but it was definitely something different.

Wikis

When I first found out about Wikipedia I thought it was the coolest thing because it allowed anybody to correct wrong information or to add on incomplete information. I have used it since then and I have never been led astray by it; therefore, I can see the importance and help that it provides in that occasion, but looking at all the libraries using Wikis, it didn't seem very useful to me. You still need a password to change or add on anything, so unless you are part of that library staff you can't do anything. And even if you did it's probably so heavily monitored that everything would be censured. So how does it help the patrons?

Web 2.0

I'm a pretty savvy computer user, but I still don't really understand what 2.0 is in its entirety. Is it everything that we've been learning put together? I find individual items useful, while other just seem to be a copy of something else I can use without having to sign up for an account and log in every time I want to use it.

For people who are only interested in the online or technological services that the library can provide, then they don't need a physical library to get what they want. For people like me who go to the library for actual books, be it fiction or nonfiction, it would be extremely sad if I didn't have that option any longer.

Technorati

I think Technorati is useful for people that actually use and look for blogs on a regular basis. I don't, so I don't find it useful. I don't see why you wouldn't just go on google and type in whatever you want to search; it seems to me that I get more trustworthy and relevant information with a search engine.

Delicious

This is a very useful tool for anyone including libraries. Many times when I've been doing research for school it has taken me a long time to find all kinds of information on the same subject just because they came from different sources. I can't imagine the time it would save me and other researchers if the many different sources were all cataloged in the same place.

Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos

I just found out from WebFeat that my dad went to the oldest university in South America: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. It was built in 1551 by King Charles I of Spain. I think that's pretty nifty.

Books

Image Generator

http://www.imagechef.com/ic/make.jsp?tid=Tattoo+Back

RSS

I like the fact that now I can go to just one website and look at all of the things that I am interested in. But at the same time it makes me feel quite lazy to just have everything at my fingertips and not really have to think much anymore.

It can certainly be useful to libraries in the same way that blogs are: by having all the information in one place. Patrons wouldn't have to go all over looking for various things on the same subject if the library organizes it all in one page.

Fingerprint recognition

We just got a new laptop and my husband has been playing around with it and comes to me every once in a while to get me to do weird things: like sitting in front of the screen and letting it take 27 pictures of me, or letting it take 10 samples of ny fingerprints. So the next time I want to use it I sit in front of it and its little camera zooms in on my face and says "Welcome." Of course, most of the time it doesn't work, though according to my husband it just needs to take even more pics of me to always recognize me from different angles. When the face recognition doesn't work, it asks me to swipe my finger very slowly and it allows me entry into my own computer. This is what's keeping me interested right now, and it gives me a thrill every time because it kinda makes me feel like James Bond.

OBB

OBB
Originally uploaded by zabbyism

I find that using Flickr is pretty easy, as it explains everything step-by-step; however, I do find it to be unorganized and has information all over the place. Though I'll definitely be browsing through it and looking at all the cute photos.

Bunnies: Part Deux!

Sooty #2
Originally uploaded by markfftang

I don't know how to add 2 photos to one blog, so I had to do it separately.

Bunnies!

ANGELs Profile
Originally uploaded by EMIchiee

I went looking through Flickr and found pictures of bunnies that look exactly like mine. The black one, Lina, passed away a couple of years ago, but she's still part of our family (we have her ashes on our mantle). The light brown one is the baby of the family, though he is now 7 1/2 years old, which equals 75 in human years. I think he's pretty spry for a geriatric. His very controversial name is Jesus. It started out as a joke in college, but it stuck. If anyone if offended by it you can pronounce it the Spanish way and it doesn't sound quite as sacrilegious. I guess my dad was offended because he renamed him Sipriano. It is quite embarrassing when he goes to a new vet, they usually end up "mispelling" his name--he's been called Jefus a couple of times.

Blogging in Libraries

Blogging makes everything immediate without any period of suspense. I believe that one way it could be used in libraries is as a forum for communicating basically anything between different kinds of people, be it staff, librarians, patrons, cooperatives, etc. It can also serve as a way to present up to date information to the public, as well as employees who may not be in the loop.

7.5 Habits

I find these to be helpful in that they set kind of a guideline on how to enrich one's own life through learning. It shows you step-by-step what to do and inspires and motivates. The hardest one for me to follow is taking responsibility for my own learning because it means that I have to make myself start the process of learning something without someone else leading me by the hand or pushing me into doing it.