Podcasts

Oh my goodness...I can't believe this is 23! I have really enjoyed doing these, even if sometimes it has felt like work! I just think it is funny that I have done more of the things towards the end of the 23 things then I had at the beginning. I don't think they went in order of difficulty, but if so, then i am doing most of the harder things on a regular basis in my daily life.

Podcasting is great! I love it! I was doing it before the 23 Things and will continue to do it afterwards. But, I will say that I didn't realize that really any audio or video coming from the web is considered podcasting. I thought, like I guess many people do gathering from the definition on the site Katherine suggested, that it wasn't really a podcast unless you took it off the internet and put in onto a device.

We just got a iPod for our wedding in September and I haven't really played around with it a whole lot. I have never downloaded a podcast to it but I have played around in iTunes a little bit while dealing with it. I wanted to listen to a podcast (for free) to complete this task so I downloaded iTunes onto my work computer (sorry, Sam) and typed in free. There aren't too many free things on iTunes! Which is smart for Apple, but I really wanted to listen to something free.

I ended up finding the first chapter of Shadowmagic by John Lenahan.

Here is the description: “Hi, my name is Conor. Other than my father being a bit of an eccentric lunatic, my life was pretty normal until I got attacked in my living room and whisked away to Tir na Nog, the mystical land of the ancient Celts, where it turns out Dad is the usurped heir to the throne and everybody wants me dead because of some prophecy. Don’t you just hate when that happens?”

Shadowmagic is a rip roaring fun fantasy adventure novel by John Lenahan very loosely based on Irish mythology where every chapter ends on the edge of a cliff (or at least a high curb.) Join Conor as he grapples with typical teenage problems like, how to deal with a father’s high expectations, how to survive in the world on your own and how to woo a beautiful girl - that wants you dead. Shadowmagic a podcast novel for young adults from 12 to 112.

I really liked the fact that I could hear the novel read by the author. I love hearing how the author wanted me to hear the words he wrote. And, the first chapter was actually pretty interesting. I don't know that I will ever pay to hear the rest of the book, but it did tweak my interest.

I do hope that the VHS can get into podcasting more. I think the online lectures are a great start, but we should also do video tours of the exhibits and have gallery walks with the curator with each new exhibit. Now that so many people have completed the 23 Things, we should have a whole group of knowledgeable tech-savvy staff who are willing to help!

Google Documents

I really like Google Documents. I think it is a great idea for people who need to share documents for something like a presentation. I signed up for a holiday luncheon using an Excel spreadsheet on Google Docs. That way everyone could see what everyone else is bringing.

I created a PowerPoint presentation and uploaded a Word document from my files. I think it is smart that the program alows you to do just about everything, if not everything, that the program on your desktop does. And, it is also smart that you can decide if you want the people you share the documents with to be able to edit them. I can see where I would do both - allow people to just look and allow them to make comments or changes if necessary.

This is one of the applications from the 23 Things that I can see myself actually coming back and using at a later date. I am glad to know it exsists.

Google has a million things that you can do with it. I think Google is taking over the world...

Wiki

I used the VHS wiki to sign up for the Lumpkins Jail tour and to make a comment on Graham's Style and Usage Guide post. I like the fact that Meg encouraged everyone to sign up for the tour using the wiki. And, I think it is great that Graham posted the Style Guide somewhere where everyone can get to it. Now we just have to all remember to use it!

It seems like a good tool to keep staff informed and communicating. But, becuase only the more tech-savy staff will use it, I don't see it becoming something that gets put into company-wide use.

I think the thing that scares me about any of the wiki accounts is the same thing that is so great about them - everyone has the opportunity to change them. While I think user generated content it great, it also can be totally wrong. Someone could take something accurate off of a post and replace it with completely false information. And, every time something new was posted, they could keep doing that. It would be a lot of silly effort to keep posting inaccurate information, but I bet half the time or more people think what they are posting is correct.

Just look at all the information floating around out there about a topic like the Civil War. Historians disagree all the time about causes, numbers, colors, pictures, etc. If there is a wiki out there with information on it that one person thinks is correct, then anohter person changes the info to what they think is correct, then it gets changed again...how is the reader to know what really is correct? I like Wikipedia - I use it a lot when I am just trying to figure out what something is - but I always go somewehre else also to validate the information. I know that people can put false information on any website, but if one person does it over and over, people will just stop going to that site for info.

All and all I like the wiki. I will be curious to see if we keep using it. I have to admit that I have already deleted some of the things that I downloaded onto my computer from these 23 things...

Week 6 - Facebook and MySpace

YEAH! I don't have to create something new for this task! I already have a Facebook AND a MySpace account! YEAH!

I actually started my MySpace page shortly before I started working at the VHS. I was very late entering the world of social networking compared to my friends. Many of my friends from high school were on Facebook when they were in college but I just didn't get it when I was in school so I never got one.

I had my MySpace page about a year before I started my Facebook account. Most people can't believe I say this, but I actually like MySpace better than Facebook. I feel like Facebook 1. has too much going on at all times - the applications annoy me; and 2. I don't like it that every time you do something (like look at someone's pictures or become friends with someone) everyone else in the whole world can see it. Sometimes it works out well because you want to be friends with someone who has just become friends with one of your friends, but for the most part it is almost too invasive for me.

I do love social networking though. For the most part, I am connected to people on MySpace and Facebook that are my regular, current friends - people who I hang out with and/or talk to regularly. But, just within the last week, a very good friend from college who I lost touch with because she moved to Chicago when I moved to New Orleans, "found" me and we have caught up. That was so exciting.

I guess my favorite part is seeing everyone's pictures. I love catching up on people's lives through their pictures. I put some of my wedding ones up and I have gotten such nice comments about them.

Lets just say that I will continue to have a Facebook and MySpace account after the 23 Things in finished. And, I do have a LinkedIn account, but I really never use it unless someone asks to connect to me. I really only have professional contacts on that program.

Week 5 - Delicious, Tagging, and Technorati, oh my!

So, I played around on Delicious.com and Technorati.com. I can't say I really understand the sites. I mean, I get that they are classifying all blogs by subjects and that you can search based on keywords, but I really didn't get it. I don't write or search blogs often enough to make either of those websites ones that I would follow regularly.

I guess, like Katherine said, they are good for seeing if anyone is talking about something like the VHS, but I just don't think I would ever use them regularly. I did read through a few of the top blogs on each site - that is a good feature. I guess it is kind of like Digg - the more people who read and recommend the blog/author, the higher rank it gets so the more people see it.

I wish the sites were a little more user friendly - I felt like I was just clicking on random things that caught my eye for no reason.

Week 4 - For Fun

I looked over Letter James, FD's Flickr Toys, LibraryThing, Rollyo.com, Jott.com, rememberthemilk.com, and livemocha.com.

Letter James was taking way too long to download and everything was in English money, so I didn't stay long on the site. But, creating a personalized calendar seemed pretty cool. But, with so many places that are doing that now, I don't see why I would need to go online to do it (unless the site had more options that I just didn't get a chance to see).

Flickr Toys was pretty cool also. I created a puzzle with a picture of Shane and me. I looked pretty good, but I never would actually buy it. It was $40. Maybe for someone who likes puzzles more than us it would be a cool gift. But, again, so many local places can do stuff like this now, why would you do it through an online site where you couldn't see the final product before you paid for it?

LibraryThing was interesting. I don't think I will ever use it because I don't read enough to make it something I would need, but I do see how it can help the VHS. I hope that younger researchers will see that we have books in our library and want to come to visit because of what they saw on LibraryThing. I'm sure it will take forever to get all our books on the site. Keep up the good work library staff!!

Rollyo.com was ok. I don't think I will ever use a program like that.

Jott.com and rememberthemilk.com were pretty cool. I do have a hard time remembering things but I don't think I am "hooked up" enough to have reminders sent to my phone, computer, put on my calendar, sent by IM, etc. But, for people who are, this seems like a great idea. I do often think of things while I am in the car and can't write them down...

And, lastly, livemocha.com. I really liked this site. I think this site shows what social networking should be all about. People helping other people to accomplish something beneficial for everyone. Maybe if I would have known about that site before the honeymoon to Mexico, I would have picked up a few more words to use while I was there.

This is why I like LibraryThing....

...this is a message I got when trying to connect to an RSS feed. The last line is GREAT!!!!

Some sort of error just happened. The error was logged and Tim has been alerted.

If problems persist, email timspalding@librarything.com

In most cases, the problem can be fixed by using this link.
The reported error was: Problem with the concurrent query manager in the LibraryThing Bureau of Garbage Collections.

We have an entire room of trained monkeys working to solve the problem.