Crossing the finish line

And I'm finally done! Maybe that's not exactly the sentiment I'm intended to leave with, but it's an honest one. Overall, this series of excercises wasn't all bad, and there were definately some parts I enjoyed, but after a while it did get repetitive.

First, things I liked:
*I did finally learn what RSS was and if it would be useful for my own interests.
*I learned about how even parts of the web I despise (MySpace especially) could really be useful for libraries both from an employee standpoint and to better reach out to patrons.
*I got to make trading cards using my pictures from Dragon*Con.
*I found out that tagging can actually be useful - even though I was resistant at first.
*I learned about Google docs, and will definately recommend them even if I don't have any immediate uses for them myself.
*I found filk on last.fm.

Then, aspects I didn't care for as much:
*I really didn't like creating so many accounts that I probably won't use ever again. Maybe if there had just been some general library accounts already set up that I could just have added to it wouldn't have felt so frustrating.
*There seemed to be an odd balance of "fun" activities and applications I needed to learn. Yes, I enjoyed using the trading card maker, as well as a few other mashups, but I wasn't sure where those fit into the overall library connection. They appeared to be just thrown in a bit at random in order to assuage suspected boredom.
*Though I'm fairly confident with using the computer and convincing it to do what I want, I know that many others are not. This program had many aspects that were not at all intuitive to those less familiar with navigating certain types of sites and programs. I was glad to help a few people, and I know that that was something mentioned in the program's beginning, but the logistics of such helping sessions were difficult to arrange and were not supported by the four-month time limit. Perhaps if another similar program were put together, there would be more structure so that those for whom setting up an IM widget on their blogs was easy could work with those who had difficulty.

Now that I complete my last blog entry, I'm glad that I did this program and will take away more than I initially suspected. If another such series were offered, I would likely be happy to take part in it.

All A-twitter (or not)

At first glance, Twitter seems like an endless stream of commercials. And I'm not going to get into the creepy "your followers" thing. One of the only (possibly) useful differences between this and regular blogging seems to be the length of a 'post'. I don't know about anyone else, but if I want to limit my blog post to 140 words, I'll do just that - I don't need to create yet another account somewhere to do my limiting for me. This slight complaint is connected to one of the problems I've been having with all the 2.0 programs I'm learning about. It seems that there are a million sites out there doing a few things that are truly different. RSS readers, Meebo, and microblogging don't appear to me to really offer anything *new*, just different and more complicated ways to do what I'm already doing. I can see how something like Twitter may be useful if someone doesn't want to have a blog, but otherwise it just appears to be yet another account to create for the sake of creating another account. In the end, while I proudly consider myself a geek, I'm a geek that doesn't get into the latest tech fad because it exists - I actually need to have it do something necessary for me.

Cruising with Youtube

For this activity, I chose to spend some time looking around Youtube. Here's the video that interested me most on my little jaunt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYaczoJMRhs

Yes, I'm a proud Whedonite. I remember attending one of the charity screenings of Serenity in Portland where they played this speech before the film, and the sense of being a part of something so important and so much bigger than myself was a wonderful feeling.

I liked parts of Youtube quite a bit. I could probably spend many unproductive hours looking at music videos made from songs and clips from various Whedon shows. Of those, I love a Firefly vid set to the song "I need a hero." Cool stuff indeed.

I can also actually envision this being a useful tool for libraries. I've already taken part in Sam's One Minute Critic series, and it was a lot of fun. I could also see libraries making videos of programs and activities to entice more people to attend. In addition, there could also be a series showing patrons how to use various library services or presenting them with the opportunities to make their own library-esque vids and have them shown on the library homepage.

Podcasting

This "activity" seemed less useful to me than many others on Web 2.0. Not because I dislike podcasting, but the activity itself didn't involve much of anything. Thankfully, I've already downloaded and listened to quite a few podcasts in the past - otherwise I probably still wouldn't really know what was going on with them.

While none of the library-related podcasts really caught my attention, I do think that 'casts are very useful and entertaining. For myself, I regularly listen to "The Signal" - a Firefly podcast - and two 'casts related to Dragon*Con. The first is just for fun, but the other two have also provided me with valuable information about going to such a large convention and how to make the most of my trip. While I enjoy a well put together website, there are many things that come across much better when listened to than when read. Music for instance, as well as interviews. Often, when reading an interview, the person loses much of their vivacity and uniqueness that are easily apparent in an audio or video podcast.

A New Place for Filk

Now this is cool. I love to listen to music, but my genre (filk) isn't exactly anything I'll likely be hearing on the radio anytime soon. I pretty much just have to go to conventions and stock up in the dealers' room - buying cds I've never heard, but have faith they'll be good. I'm often quite satisfied, but there have been times I regretted my purchases. Here, though, are places where I can listen - for free - to stuff before I buy. And they even have more than a few filk artists.

So far, Last.fm is my favorite music site. I like how intuitive it is with tags and tabs dividing up all sorts of juicy information. Not only music, I also found videos of one of my favorite performers (Heather Alexander) and links to many other filkers. Even ones I've never heard of!

Excuse me while I grin in geeker joy. I can't wait to explore this site further.

As far as connecting this with libraries, I know I love to listen to music while I read and it would be cool to have suggested songs to go with certain books - like making our own soundtracks. For instance instead of a page about a performer, you could have one for a book or character and list songs different people connect to it.

Docs: not just from Microsoft anymore

I gotta admit it: This is kinda cool.

Now I feel like I have a new toy - though I'm not sure what to do with it.

As a writer and someone who deals with multiple drafts of the same document, I admit it would be nice to have a central location that would store drafts without me having to wonder which version I'm looking at. What I'm less sure of, however, is if I like the idea of my "stuff" being somewhere in the ether instead of the relative safety of my own harddrive.

I also don't currently have anyone I want to collaborate with - but my lack of any kind of social life is not the issue here. In theory, google docs would definately make collaborations easier. As the 100+ back emails in each of my multiple accounts will tell you: I easily get bogged down in piles of emails bearing attachments and quickly lose count of what I've read, what I want to do with it, and finding the energy to care. I may have to spend some more time playing..er..learning about google docs.

Spiffy

TV Reviews

Guess all that book learning was good for something after all.

Aside from discovering the erudite nature of this journal, I also opted to play around a bit. After a few rounds of 'wordshoot' I managed to get myself on the high score list. Granted, it was for the "easy" level, but hey, a high score is a high score darn it. That's a game I might be returning to - likely when I should be doing something productive. Yahoo Answers was also an interesting venture as I found questions on just about any topic I could conceive of - including more than a few that I could answer with some level of confidence. Much fun, indeed.