Destination Reached

Okay, I will admit to having had a fun learning experience and I want to continue learning about technology. I was a little frustrated at times during the learning process because I only have dial-up internet access at home. This meant that I could not view or listen to certain items unless I was at the library.

I have a Flickr account and will read my digital camera manual this long holiday weekend. In fact, if I read it tonight I can catch my family at the dinner table tomorrow and get some photos!

Podcasts

This lesson was so much fun. I can't get fast speed internet in my rural neighborhood which is in a way is a good thing otherwise I might become addicted to U-Tube.

I downloaded a video from our collection and subscribed to more than one podcast.

Wiki

As a student, I have had to participate in several group writing projects. A Wiki site would have made those writing assignments a breeze. It is so much nicer than e-mailing information back and forth.

Zoho Writer Experiment

Testing, Testing, One, Two, Three! This is an attempt to send a message to my blog from Zoho Writer.

Del.ici.ous

I took notes while touring Del.ici.ous and found lots of interesting web pages that people have bookmarked. I was very pleased to discover links leading to free algebra and Spanish tutorial programs.



The article "To a Temporary Place in Time" made me laugh out loud when the author predicted that one day people may collect good librarians like they collect good books! I could visualize librarians handing out autographed trading cards to their fans.

Social Networking

Last night I visited the My Space website and checked out the country singer Eric Dodge's space. I attended a baby shower on a My Space blog and also visited Tom's space. He is 32 years old and his zodiac sign is Libra.

Then I played three games of billards against a computer. I am sorry to say that I was beaten at eight ball all three times. I did manage to get 5 of the eight balls in the pocket during one game.

Generator Blog

The Generator Blog site was so much fun. It was like a day at a county fair. I had my name spelled out in Chinese characters, took a brain scan, made snowflakes and built a smiley person. I didn't really want to leave the site and go to the next project.

I found the Library Thing site very interesting. I did not realize so many people were serious about cataloging their private book collections.

As part of our assignment, I signed up for a Rollyo Search Engine and have started making my own personal search list.

Newsreaders

Newsreaders are a speedy way to catch up on important news events. I tried the CNN newsreader and found that it was easy to use. I really appreciated that each news headline was followed by a short synopsis of the article. By reading an article's synopsis I could quickly decide whether or not I wanted to read the entire article.

Patrons often come to the library looking for additional information on current events and I can see how a newsreader would be a useful tool. Especially, since the newsreader's pages are not full of ads and other unnecessary clutter. Plus, newsreaders can be customized so that the subscriber only receives news articles on subjects that are of interest to them.

I am going to give the CNN newsreader I signed up for a trial run.

Flickr Fun

I loved Crazy Dad's site best with its clever kaleidoscope of photos that change colors at the click of a mouse. This was my second visit to this particular site. I enjoyed looking at the wildflower photos.



This time I had success accessing the Montager site and checked out photos of faces, farms, and mountains. The two previous times I visited the site it was stuck on global warming photos and would not allow me to search for anything else.

Seven Habits of Learning

Using technology to my advantage is a habit that I have to push myself into taking time to investigate. My husband and son are always dragging home the latest electronic devices. I have a digital camera and an !pod sitting on a closet shelf. They are gifts from the last two Christmas seasons and heaven knows what new gizmo will appear this year!

I grudgingly sit at a computer to do my university assignments. I'd rather be reading a good book or exploring the world than sitting in front of a computer's gleaming screen. I find reading e-mail wastes a lot of time and it has become a chore.

If I were a housebound invalid or living in the the far reaches of Alaska, I am sure that I would eat my words and really love being in touch with the outside world by computer.