Week 5, thing 11: Library Thing

Library Thing was definitely easy to use. Once I went through the site tour, it only took me a few minutes to set up the account. I just grabbed a few books and typed in the ISBN. It took no time at all. I added a few tags, just really random thoughts about each book. I'll need to use tags a bit more to get used to them.
I can see where Library Thing would be very useful for people who spend time on their own book collections. I will need to spend more time with it to see what other features are offered by the site.

Week 5, thing 10: Yahoo Avatar

Well, what a surprise! I actually got the avatar to display on the blog. Partly just dumb luck in trying different combinations of cutting and pasting the url.
The avatar was a little like playing with paperdolls. I was tempted to use some of the more dramatic costumes, but went with something more sedate. It's an interesting program, that's fun to use.

Week 4: Thing 9, Library blogs and news feeds

Looking for the rss icon can really be fun. I've added a couple of weather websites, since I'm a weather junkie. I also added a couple of the library sites that were mentioned in the 23 things blog, including LII and Merlin. I looked on the internet for a news feed for new mysteries, and came up with "Deadline News" which is part of the ClueLass website. I don't know whether this news feed will have what I'm looking for, but I'll keep it on for now.One of the best things about Bloglines is that I don't have to remember which websites I've found useful or interesting.

Week 4, Thing 8 Bloglines

I've set up the bloglines account and added 10 newsfeeds. It looks like it could be fun to check the news all in one place! Maybe a timesaver, but I'll have to live with it for a while to see for sure.
It was interesting looking at different sites to see if they had the rss. A few that I looked at still had email newsletters or pdf newsletters, so not everyone is adopting this right now.
Bloglines is fun to use, and I can see it being very useful for a lot of different people, including those who use our computers.

Week 3, Thing #7: Technology

This week I was looking for some information about the subject of a new nonfiction book. I googled the topic, and one of the hits was a blog by a tv newsperson. What I found interesting was that blogs are a way for people with similar interests to communicate information. I'm sure that this revelation is not news to people who regularly read blogs. Rather than just being a social format, the blogs also are a way to find other web pages and blogs with related information. The truly wonderful thing about the internet is the way that people around the world can communicate and share pictures with each other directly. With blogs, we can point people to where they can find more stuff about what interests them.

Week 1 and 2, Thing 2, 3 and 4: 7 1/2 habits, blogs

I just listened to the podcast on the 7 1/2 habits. I do consider myself a lifelong learner, in the sense that I am always on the lookout for information about subjects that I am interested in.In this exercise, I am most interested in learning how to work with pictures.
9/22/07
Reviewing my blog posts, I realized that I had forgotten to answer the questions in Thing 3 about the 7 1/2 habits. For me, the easiest habit is #5, create your own toolbox. I am always looking for information about subjects that I am interested in. What's great about the 23 things program is the number of internet tools that I am learning about for the first time. Some things I am familiar with, like wikis and e-audio books. I had not heard of del.icio.us and did not know how rollyo worked.
The most difficult things for me are #3, view a problem as a challenge, and #4, have confidence. I have problems with managing my time, so that a problems can look like a crisis if I don't get to it. Confidence in myself is just something that I have always struggled with. Anyway, I will have try to manage these concerns as I work my way through this new knowledge.
I also double checked that I did register my blog with the Baltimore County Participants. Thanks!