Week 3: RSS and News Readers

What can I say? I would be lost without Bloglines, right now I have 133 feeds and it is about to go up. Everyone has come up with such interesting blogs that I don't have feeds to...yet. That means I will have to go through my feeds and do some weeding. You can keep track of you feeds just like you would your favorites, but you are then tied to that computer. And what happens if your computer crashes? Bye, bye feeds.

I love the fact that my feeds are available when I want them and from where ever I am at; midnight on my home computer or while I am on vacation on my laptop. Yes, I have been known to take my laptop with me. It hasn't always worked, but that is a different story.

The idea of RSS feeds on webpage’s makes a lot of sense. I would like to see RSS feeds on the subject pages or a new books page. This would allow people to subscribe to the feed and know when new books were added or new links were added to the subject pages. Or how about an RSS for the database page; they could find out when a database has been added or deleted. The potential is there, it just has to be utilized.

Week 2: Image Generators

Week 2 was also a chocoholic’s delight as we all created our custom candy bars. That is just one of the many image generators that are available on the web. You can create fortune cookies, candy bars, posters, magazine covers or you can alter digital images.

I decided to create my own fortune:

http://www.commentsjunkie.com/fortunecookie/

I've always want a Warhol but could never afford one so I created my own.

http://www.shadowfire.de/warholizer

If you try the warholizer and it doesn't work right, scroll down and look for a link to the older version.

Week 2: Flickr

Well, week 2 has come and gone. Everyone did a fantastic job and should be extremely proud of themselves.

To display our photos to the world we used Flickr. Flickr is just one of the many services that is available on the web. It has its limitations: maximum of 200 photos can be displayed at any given time, limited photo editing, and unless otherwise specified all photos are available for copy by anyone. There are other products available like Picasso (Google) - able to store 2000 photos and works with Blogger. I discovered this recently and I am currently comparing the two. I am also going to be looking at other sources. I have added a slideshow from my flickr account; you should be able to see it on the side.

Now, I know I said that having the photos available for anyone to use can be a drawback, but it is also a plus. Last year I was in Oklahoma City and while there I went to the memorial for the bombing victims. I created a set in flickr and posted my photos in the set and made them public. This year around the anniversary date I received an email in flickr from a reporter for an online news service. She was writing an article about the event and needed photos. She had found my photos and wanted to use some of them, of course I said yes. This would have never happened if my photos had not been in flickr. Since I gave permission the photos that were selected now have a mention in the comments with a link to the article. Do the pluses outweigh the drawbacks? You will have to decide for yourself.

Week One: Getting Acquainted and Blogging

Week one got off to a good start. Everyone did a fantastic job creating their blogs, they were original and fun. I personally am not much of a blogger, I have a difficult time taking what I am thinking and committing it to paper (I guess it is actually cyberpaper). So I can appreciate the time and effort it took to create the blogs and write the initial post.

For those who are having a difficult time, it will get easier. And remember, you are not alone in the course. Yes, some people are having an easier time and other's of you are struggling a little. We had the same thing happen in the first group. By the time the last course had ended you could not tell the difference between those who started out ahead and those who struggled. It will get easier as you go through the course. If you need help or have questions, ask. I will do what I can to help.

Ok, now that I have that off my chest here are some photos that will hopefully end this post on an upbeat note.

Cherry Blossoms in Washington, DC

What would I find if I Googled You?

Think about it for a moment, if I or anyone else were to Google you what would we find? Would we find blogs where you are talking about family, friends or perhaps even a rant about the boss or really irritating coworker? So, go ahead, Google yourself, I’ll wait. Oh, and don’t forget to Google any alias’s you use, either. Were you surprised by what you found?

So what did you find? Did you find more personal information than you realized? Did you find those blog posts you forgot about and wish you had never made? Did you find any photos you didn’t realize a friend had posted? Did you find enough information that someone could impersonate you or approach people you know under the guise of a friend?

Consider too the image all that information portrays. Take a good look, but from the eyes of someone who doesn’t know you and is basing their opinion strictly from the information on the internet. If a complete stranger were to look at this information, what type of image would he/she form? Why am I asking this?

Because I had someone (that I had recently met) tell me, “I Googled you and found you’re blogs.” I didn’t think anything about it because I have Googled myself and seen everything that had come up before. But later I started to think about it and it led to this question, “If you were to take all the information and create an impression based on that information alone, what type of person am I?” Am I someone you want to know? I you were an employer, would want to hire me? Am I the type of person I would want for a friend?

Am I trying to scare you so much that you want to run screaming and never touch a computer? No, that is not my purpose. I want to be aware as we start creating accounts and putting information on the web that we are actually putting pieces of ourselves on the web and once it is out there you can’t get it back.

Beginning of the Summer 2008 Web 2.0 Tools Course

Welcome to my blog!!

As we journey through the course this summer I will blogging right along with you. I will be sharing my thoughts and views for you to read and hopefully enjoy. :)

Here is a little information about myself that I didn't include in my introduction in the discussion thread:

• I love plants and have a huge garden
• We have over 200 roses bushes
  
• I have 1 cat named Happy
• I have 4 nephews whose ages range from 10 - 18
• I like to visit new places, but I hate the travel to get there

Here is a photo I took with my cell phone this morning of one of the rose bushes that is blooming right now. We will get a few more blooms this summer, but nothing like this.