WeeK #9, Thing #23

Final thoughts: the internet is really, really big. Some of these tools make it easier to manage and enjoy, some just lead to ever more ways to waste time.

These are the things I've really integrated into my everyday web use:

Del.icio.us
RSS feeds (first in Bloglines, now Google Reader)
Downloadable audiobooks
Craigslist
GoogleDocs
GoogleMaps
Pandora and Slacker Radio
YouTube
Facebook!

WeeK #9, Thing #22

As the audiobook selector I have worked extensively with the Maryland Digital Library Consortium to select downloadable audio titles from Overdrive as well as helping design the look of the site.

Everyone in my family has been listening to downloadable audiobooks from both Overdrive and Recorded Books/Netlibrary since they first became available.

WeeK #9, Thing #21

Explored a number of podcast directory sites including: Podcast.com, Podcastalley, and LearnOutLoud. Found a number of library related podcasts at LibrarySpot.com. Downloaded a podcast receiver called "Juice" and subscribed to NPR books podcasts.

WeeK #9, Thing #20

YouTube was an invaluable resource for my daughter this year when she needed to learn a bunch of songs for the school musical. MCPL could post promotional videos on our Facebook page using YouTube.

Here's one of my recent favorites:

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

I actually used Vimeo to embed this because it was easier to customize the size.

Week #8, Thing #19

I've wondered for a long time about the "Digg it" button I've been seeing on many websites so I decided to explore digg.com. A very interesting site for finding out what other people like.

Week #8, Thing #18

Just last week my son's new teacher (4th grade) recommended setting the kids up to use Google Docs for their schoolwork. We set my son up with Gmail and he has done two assignments already on Google Docs. For this exercise my son and I tried sharing documents back and forth. I also experimented with setting up a spreadsheet to use a a temporary calendar for scheduling branch book discussion sets. I wonder if a wiki would work well for that?

Week #7, Thing #17

Unfortunately I wasn't able to access the wiki. Too bad, I think it would have been fun.