Thing 20- Books 2.0

I love books....I like the real thing:the hard copy. Am I against a book in any other form? This is a hard one.
BooksinmyPhone & txt2ph would not be my style. Cell phones are distracting enough without trying to read a novel on one.
DailyLit looks like it would be fairly cool, short installments by RSS or email...if you check your reader or email everyday than I can see using this. But I would also say "Just pick up the book". Twitterlit looks silly, and they may be just what some people need to get them interested in a book...I mean,come on, if the opening line to the book teaser was "I've got the biggest knickers in Australia" wouldn't you at least giggle to yourself & wonder what book it came from?

Reading Trails looks neat if not time consuming. If I decide to become more of a 'sharer' I would try something like this. All of the other reader's advisory sites may be handy somewhere along the line, but nothing beats book browsing at the library or book store or especially the thrift store!

Online book communities are not my style, but I can say that many of my Facebook pals are using it, so I may be tempted myself. I'm not a fan of book reviews for the most part only because I don't want to be told any spoilers. They are good for knowing a books' contents in case you have to recommend it to someone w/o reading it first.
I will be using the Book Group Resources more often now, as I find myself in charge of a tween book club and will always need good ideas. Book swaps are an environmentally friendly idea, but again it's a privacy thing...I don't do any business online.
BookCrossing looks wild...I went ahead and got an account, although I don't know if I want to buy a starter kit...it seems like they should let you just print your own label and bar code if it's so earth friendly.But I will look for books in my area.

LookyBook has closed its site due to lack of resources. I love the Flickr Vintage childrens' books just because I love picture books.

So back to the question at hand....is a book in any form still considered a good read? If a book on tape/cd/online/ipod/smoke signal is the only way for someone to enjoy a good book, then I would say be my guest. If you are someone that travels and cannot carry several books with you, than a Kindle may be convenient for you. But after looking at almost all of the sites, I am still convinced that there is nothing like a real, hand held book.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO BURN BOOKS TO DESTROY A CULTURE. JUST GET PEOPLE TO STOP READING THEM." RAY BRADBURY

Thing 18 Comparison of MySpace vs. Facebook

MySpace Facebook

-messy -tidy
-young - mature(r)
-commercial - friendly
-contest like atmosphere -nostalgic
-hookup alley - serene
-TMI (too much information) - privacy included


I originally activated a MySpace acct. because my friends' business was there and I could keep up with his activities. I actually don't use it that much, but still upload pics and stuff for some friends that use it & not Facebook. I do not seem to use MySpace with much ease, for some reason I get aggravated trying to find/do certains actions. When I did add an application it looked random and messy to me, and then I would never make use of it. It feels like a coloring book to me, an outline but filled with any color imaginable whether it looks good or not.
Facebook, on the other hand, appears neater and cleaner to me. I guess this appeals to an older generation of users, yet we still can add the fun stuff and it's an organized chaos instead of allout pandemonium. Facebook is the Museum Art compared to coloring Book art. Now,I absolutely love to color, but let's face it, my stuff is not going to hang in a frame!
My only yuch factor w/Facebook is that they like to make changes! This makes me fell out of sorts, like I am too old to change! I like the status quo!!!! But I will adjust........

Thing 19-OTHER!!!!Social Networks

I cannot possibly do another social networking site! I will say that if I did anything else, Webjunction would be it. It's one I already know about,it's educational, it's easy to use. It's good for job development.

I already use about.com forum (Home school) and Circle of Moms on Facebook.That's about as good as it gets for me, and I cannot begin to tell you the last time I logged on! I am not really a big 'networker', I don't have a real vested interest in any politics, economics, social issues, debates or special interest groups, so I cannot see where Ning or Gather would work for me.

I already used Project Playlist from another "Thing", but have very little intention of sharing my lists w/anyone socially.

Thing 18- Facebook & MySpace

I have had both of these accounts for awhile. I really only use MySpace occasionally, it's not my favorite. I was also informed recently at a workshop that it is no longer the top-rated social networking site. I don't know about that. I also thinks it's dangerous for younger kids to use. ( Check out Kevin Farnham 's book-MySpace Safety"51 Tips for Teens and Parents ) It used to be that they avoided FaceBook,I think they thought it was for old people. I have started to use FaceBook alot more since 23Things started. I like it because of being able to catch up w/friends from school. (I don't like some of their new changes.)
Do I like the idea of these apps for the Library? I am not quite sure how well this would work here in our area. In the bigger library regions/university towns this may work as advertisement.I wouldn't want to have to be the one to approve or deny any comments that came in. On one of the listed My Space Library pages, it reminds me of a commercial, not too personal.
I did go ahead and add FLA to my FaceBook Groups. Maybe I will be better informed this way, because I have a tendency to not keep up w/stuff. I forget to look at my Reader and find myself catching up on 14 or 15 Blah Blahs at a time. If I'm inspired later I will compare the 2 later.

Thing 17-Podcasts

First of all I have to say again that I Love Common Craft Videos.

Secondly I have to admit that I never knew that PODcast stood for Personal On Demand Casting. Duh. I knew what they were essentially, I just never realized it had an acronym attached to it.I'm not sure what I thought the "pod" meant! Anyways, I checked out the reource list. Other than not really liking Yahoo's, I'm not sure which is better/efficient, but I think you can pretty much find a podcast for anything easily enough. Now if someone could tell me WHY I NEVER thought to use these for my Homeschool I would be eternally grateful! I looked up Math tutors, and I think this would make my life a little easier! For example, Mathgrad.com discusses math applications in every day use. My son would so much rather listen to a teacher than have to read a lesson from the textbook.
Workwise? Well, I looked at something called Storytime with Miss Lynney-the Podcast Grandmother! Not that it was stellar, but the idea might one day work for us. Maybe a podcast link on the webpage...we could do a short story and then an invitation to storytimes!Hmmmmm...I like it!
My husband put iTunes on our home PC, and we use it for music once in awhile. But I see that they have added iTunesU which could provide some college class lectures that might be interesting.
I think I am really liking the storytime podcast idea..........

Google Video-the rest of thing 16

Okay, every video I picked on Google Video linked me to a YouTube video anyways! I looked up children's books and there was a few cute looking things. Unfortunately the network was having problems, so I couldn't treat you all to The Reading Rainbow Theme clip.

Grover @ the Library

Thing 16-YouTube

YouTube Rocks....but just like everything else, you need to choose wisely 'cause there is aaaalllooottttt of junk out there. But if you are specific enough & know how to avoid the garbage (that's going to be pronounced "gar-Bahj" because I went a classy post!) you can entertain yourself forever. We are currently using YouTube as part of a Book Review contest in our Library. The tweens that won the privelege are pretty excited because, unlike the rest of the adolescent world, they have not yet uploaded a video to YouTube themselves. I am posting a YouTube video of Grover at the Library simply because we all need a little Grover in our lives! But because I use YouTube I am going to try to use a Google Video later on. Enjoy the Grover break........

Thing 15-Rollyo,not to be mistaken for the candy,Rolos.....darn.

Tried Rollyo.....again,the verdict is still out. My link/searchbox is pretty dorky looking.But aesthetics aside, I can see some use in this application. It would centralize the most used sites. If we could get a working model for all of Sheila's Craft sites or our Bulletin Board ideas, etc. it may prove useful. But conversely, we still would find ourselves looking at other sites because there is always something new out there, and we would feel compelled to add to our lists all the time. I think what all of these things boil down to is putting the time and effort into setup, and then maybe they would earn their keep as a time saver. Not sure.

Select Search Engine...Preschool StorytimesSearch The Web

Powered by Rollyo

Thing 14-Part 2 Productivity

The to-do lists are cute and I would try to use them. Try, you ask? Try, I answer. Because I would use it and do great, and print out lists and lists, then the affair would be over and it would be an idle and unused app on my page. That's just how I am.
Same idea with the calendars, I like the concept, I just don't know how convenient it would be for me to open a calendar and check it everyday.....that's what the tangible extra large desk calendar is for, right?
I did however add Sticky notes to my page just because.
There are way to many applications and gadgets in the name of organization....this goes back to the question I posted awhile ago...just how organized do I need to be? I don't like my life micromanaged, but I can see some useful ideas here. Backpack looks like it could be useful, I especially had the light bulb go on with the page of frequently needed forms.This would be a great resource for my home education group, and at work. ( Volunteer forms, applications, job descriptions, groups/clubs forms....)
And I still definitely want the PDF converter.

Thing 14 Part One-Productivity

I have had an iGoogle for awhile...I have all kinds of neat things on there-Spanish Word of the Day, a cool game, CNN, calendar, cute kitten themed border, Educator's Calendar from teachervision,the weather, my inbox and youtube. So, why do I absolutely NEVER sign into this account? Because if I had this as my homepage at work,my productivity would plummet! So at work it's the plain old Google search bar, no frills/fuss/distractions. Now, when I can manage the time and effort, I would like to 'conglomerate' all of these accounts, feeds, widgets, etc. onto one main page like this. Maybe I could keep better track of things that way? I am interested in trying a to do list & see how I like it. I also will be trying the PDF converter. I'm thinking this could come in really handy. I may need Amber's help though, because it looks confusing.