Some many options... so many I already know!

For this lesson, we are supposed to look at a site that made it on the Web 2.0 Award List. I looked at several of the categories and was suprised to see how many of the sites I already knew.



Under music, I have both Last.FM and Pandora, but I have never used MOG. I was a little unnerved when they said they allow a free 1-hour trial, but when I looked at the site, I couldn't find anything about cost after the trial.



Under Maps, I had worked with Google Maps and Google Earth pretty extensively, so I tried Live Search Maps (bing.com/maps). The "bird's eye view" is better quality than Google Map's satellite, but otherwise they are pretty equal.



The Social Networking Mainstays included Twitter and Facebook, which I am very comfortable with, but added which utilizes AOL account log-ins and which they state is more popular in Britian and the Australasian markets.



I looked at books, thinking it would be reviews and might include GoodReads and other similiar sites, but instead it included Lulu, which is more attuned to aspiring authors, Biblio.com where you can purchase out-of-print titles, and VuFind for libraries. While I'm sure these are great sites for people looking for those specific focus, none of them interested me as much as my GoodReads account, which connects me to my friends and reviews of what they are reading.



Finally, I ended up at Fun Stuff. It included Cocktail Builder, which several people have blogged about already. The site that I enjoyed the most was hairmixer, which allows you to take other people's hair styles and edit them on to your picture. Beware though, if the faces are not tilted the same way or if one picture is closer than the other, the effect is very disconcerting. I was able, after putting Marcia Cross' hair on Reese Witherspoon that it is a good thing Reese is blonde! This is a fun site and the option where you can upload a picture of yourself and try different hair colors was lots of fun!

There are so many new options out there and new way are spawned every day, so it is nice to have someone evaluating all the options that are out there. I may not always agree with their choices, but I would probably never see some of these sites if it weren't for the Web 2.0 Awards!

I like this... from Wine wOOt

http://woottwitterimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wootcellars-teaser.png

Favorite books?

I had someone ask me the other day what my favorite book is. I thought for a while and then told them that the only way I can answer that, without going into an exhaustive list, is to tell you what my favorite book is at this moment. This is currently "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman. I finished it in less than a day and started recommending it to friends that I thought would enjoy it also. It may only remain my favorite for a week or a month, not because it will have lost any of its impact, but because I will continue reading and may find other books that stir me equally. That is why I finally put down an album. "Bat Out of Hell" by Meatloaf on the list of staff favorites. It has been my favorite through two records, two casette tapes, and into a CD, which has been played near to death. It is this kind of long-term approval that I don't often find with books. I can say that the "Dragonriders of Pern" series is among my favorite, but I did not like every one of the books equally. I can say that I enjoy what I have read of Jodi Picoult, except that I didn't enjoy the ending of her last book. I know that "Water for Elephants" continues to be one of my favorites and one that I recommend, but I hate to limit myself to stating it is "my favorite" as long as I continue to read and enjoy new titles and authors. What a conundrum. As long as I read, I will add to the long list of favorites and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Picasa

Ok, I think I have Picasa figured out, so I will be sharing pictures of my kids (who, unfortunately are no longer as young as I would like). Tabitha, my oldest, is 22 and in college at the Columbia Campus of Moberly Area Community College. These pictures were taken while we were out in Colorado several years ago while we were out there for a family reunion.

Kena, my younger daughter, looks more like my younger sister Corinne and currently lives in Joplin, MO. She does some modeling and also does tele-marketing to pay the bills. In this picture, she was around 14 and already beautiful. That was the last year that she lived with me, because she is my wild child. We are friends now, but we didn't always get along, which is frequently true with parents and teens.

I thought I knew lots about armadillo, but then I started looking for pictures for this blog and discovered that I know lots of trivia about the nine-banded armadillo, which is so prevelant in North America. Did you know that there are twenty breeds of armadillos? I will be blogging about them further as this continues, along with trying to accomplish my assignments for NetTrek.

Finally... a picture!

Ok, I haven't done all of the work for this week, but I did get a picture up for my profile that was taken on Halloween a few years ago. I will try to pull some pictures off the 'net later and include them in my next blog.

Seven and 1/2 Habits

Ok, I watched the slideshow and here is what I got from it... my greatest weakness is that I am no longer confident of my ability to learn some of the new technologies and ideas that are out there. When I was younger, I thought I could learn anything, if I just worked at it, but as I age I find it harder to pick up on new ideas.

The good news is that I am comfortable with the technology that I need to use for my job. I also have always viewed problems as challenges or learning experiences. I have been told in the past that I make an excellent mentor because I remember when I was learning and I'm willing to listen.

First issue...

I discovered that, if you have had a blog on here previously and thought you were being slick, but setting up a new gmail account, Blogger can get confused. Hmmm, now I know! I can read my posts for this blog on my other blog, because I connected them, but I can not respond to people for Web 2.0 Staff Training and have the correct user name unless I remember to log into the new gmail account. Sounds simple, right? It should be, but I can confuse myself easily. I don't know if this is helpful for anyone else, but maybe it will keep me from making this same mistake again.

First blog of a new adventure!

This is a new and hopefully fascinating adventure into Library 2.0 topics. As long as I can stay focused for the next four months, I'm sure I will learn new things and possibly meet new friends.