Finally the Finale.

Well I have been enlightened about many more things on the web - some I have heard off but never used and other things that were totally new to me.

I will probably use Google maps and I like the idea of setting up your own homepage with iGoogle.

I enjoyed finding books online in print and audio format.

Technorati would have been handy to know about earlier when I overheard someone asking about blogs on a particular topic.

I really enjoyed doing 23 Things and have gained new knowledge that will hopefully be called upon.

Social Networking

Well it seems everybody is facebooking or myspacing except me and the people I went to school with. One day when the need arises I might join.

They are both great tools for keeping in touch but I think some people let too much personal information about themselves be readily available to others.

Twittering

It seems everyone is Twittering. It's a great way to keep in contact but I still don't think it is something I would use personally.

Podcasts, Smodcasts!

It was fun and easy finding podcasts through Podcastalley. The variety of podcasts was huge. It's seems a great medium for learning. There were lots of podcasts that wanted to teach you stuff be it academic or just for hobbies.

The quality of the podcasts did vary - some were very grainy and some had excellent picture definition.

YouTube

YouTube is fun and once again there appears to be nothing people won't put on the web. You could spend many hours at this site but alas don't have the time. My link of interest was to do with libraries - The Library - a Mr Bean episode

iGoogle

IGoogle is a great idea for consolidating your favourite tools - which are called Gadgets. I like the fact they have little pictures to identify them - it made it easier to know what they were about - not always so obvious with bookmarks. Some of the gadgets I have are Currency converter, weather and googlemaps.

You can even access your google gmail account along with all your other google products.

GoogleMAPS

I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring Googlemaps. I have used it before to find my way to soccer, cricket, netball etc matches. It's great to be able to view the place you are going to so you know what landmarks to lookout for. The only problem with this is when changes happen and google maps has not yet updated the data.

Google docs was very easy to use. Could be very handy if your word processor can't function for some reason. I sent my google docs file off as an attachment to a fellow 23thinger with no problem at all - just hope it arrives.

Wiki Collaboration

Very easy to use and edit in a few minutes.

Wiki fast

Another great way for people to communicate on topics of mutual interest.

My concerns are for the quality of information supplied on these wiki's but it probably won't stop me using Wikipedia.

Technorati

Technorati was fun to explore - so fun that I completely wandered away from it into the wider web.

Still amazed at what people comment on. Where do they find the time to sit down and explore the web. Maybe they don't have children, pets and endless children's afternoon and weekend activities or they manage their time better.

There seem to be no end of helpful people answering the questions of others or making comments on the latest event.

Boing Boing is still the most popular blog site. Jennifer Garner is the 4th most popular search and Terminator Salvation is the popular movie at the moment.

Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us was fun to explore. It is useful to have your favourite web sites available from any computer.

It was useful to find websites on a particular topic grouped together that someone had tried out - tried and tested for you.

LibriVox

LibriVox allows you to listen to audiobooks online or to download the podcasts. Its certainly a lot quicker than finding places that sell audio books and a lot cheaper.

It can be time consuming as you can only download one to a few chapters at once and not all the chapters at once.

It's nice listening to books read by people with accents though some can be hard to understand.

I thinks its a very useful free resource.

Googlebooks

Googlebooks was fun. I enjoyed searching for books to add to my library. Another easy way to keep track of the books you like to read or use it like a database of books you hold.

A great way to read parts of a book to see if you would like to continue with it or read the whole book if the full text is available. I read the last couple of pages of Peter Pan - the ending was a lot sadder than Mr Disney portrayed.

Alas it has the potential for people to not visit their local public library. I still prefer the printed book - can't read an electronic book without some form of power.

LibraryThing

LibraryThing is a great way to keep a record of books you have and to keep track of the books you have read. It allows you to get involved in discussions with other people who are interested in what you are reading.

It is very easy to use and I enjoyed reading the book reviews.

Still Feeding

I established a Google reader account rather than continue with Bloglines. Google reader was just as easy as Bloglines to use.

This time I explored Digg.com and Technorati to find news feeds. Both Digg.com and Technorati were easy to use to find feeds on a particular topic.

I like the idea of setting up a search to get any new information that appears on the web.

Feeding the RSS

This was the first time I have used RSS feeds. Bloglines certainly made it very easy to set up and use.

I think it is a great way to keep up to date with new information from your favourite web sites. I can see it has potential for keeping up to date with research for academics and students.

Blogging

I have found it very interesting reading other peoples blogs and the comments some blogs create.

There appears to be nothing people won't blog about and are willing to share with the world. I like the idea how you can ask questions and there a so many people out there willing to answer.

Picasa photo album

Picasa was very similar to Flikr. I liked using Picasa better because it just seemed to flow better. In a review comparing the two Flickr was considered the better choice. Both were easy to explore.

I have put a link to a photo in my Picasa Album of the UQ Ipswich library's roof membrane.

Flickr photos

Well I have finally joined Flickr - it was very easy. I am only up to task 5 but already my id's, passwords and url's are mounting. Yes they are bookmarked and written down somewhere.

I have managed to add a contact to my Flickr account - the 24th Librarian. There are some very beautiful photo's on the site and a lot of personal photos that people seem very willing to share - not sure I would do this. It's a great way for people to keep in contact and it looks interesting how you can get creative with your images - lots of good ideas for Christmas.

It's good that it is free but you need to watch your quota and be aware there is a cost if you want to go over your monthly quota.

The photos I took were of the garden in the Ipswich campus library. The first is of our lovely stream with goldfish and the other is of some of our dieffenbachias.

Setting up your blog

Setting up my blog was a lot easier than I imagined. It certainly is useful from a work point of view though its not something I would use to put personal information about myself on.

7.5 Habits

The habit I find the easiest if "Begin with the end in mind". Unfortunately getting to the end can have many delays and the end may end up changing along the way.

I would love to view problems as challenges but alas they just seem fraught. On a similar note I remember an interview with Michael Caine who said "use the difficulty" which I try and instill in my children but I still find hard to teach myself.

My first time - blogging

This is my first blog ever. It was a lot easier than I thought. I hope to write more in each blog as I progress through my 23 Things.