#21 Discover some useful tools for locating podcasts

Today I looked at Podcast.net and Yahoo Podcasts. Yahoo Podcasts will be disappearing on October 31st, so I spent very little time reviewing it. I was totally unaware of the quantity and popularity of Podcasts. I have heard of new programs, etc talking about having podcasts available for listening and viewing, but never took the time to really look at what is available. What a great way to listen to a show whenever and where ever is convenient. I also found quite a lot of junk on the sites. It was be easy to spend hours just browsing through what is available.I don't think this is a technology that I would use very often, but is a good to be aware of it. I did add a podcast to my bloglines page, just to see if I could. I needed to refer back to Maryland Libraries Learning 2.0 page for a refresher, so this was a good exercise to redo an item. Here is the link to my bloglines account. http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs

Where's the Beef

#20 Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow you to upload video

You Tube has such a wide variety of videos, one could spend all day just surfing around. When I heard that there were old 70s commercials included, I tried to find a favorite "Where's the Beef". I found it and here it is.

#19 Discover any site from the Web 2.0 awards list

I spent time reviewing the Farecast website under the Travel category: http://farecast.com/ . This site was awarded the first place in it's category. It is a site that allows you to compare prices of airline tickets from a variety of sources. It forcasts the probability that the tickets with remain about the same price or change and suggests whether you should buy your tickets now. I need to book a flight to Denver in November, so I put the dates and it gave me prices of flights from a variety of sources. I liked the fact that all the links were there to click on, it made the process quick and easy to navigate. The site told me to buy now. If the site is wrong, they will, supposedly provide a refund if they are wrong (only on specific airlines). This is a very usefull site. It made the search process very easy and quick.

My next spot to visit was Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/ . This is the site that won first place in the City Guide and Review section. I looked at Denver and Baltimore. This is site that gives a variety of information from shopping, dining, museums, etc. There are reviews that give you an idea whether you want to patronize the establishment or not. What a wealth of information !!!

#18 Take a look at some online productivity tools

ZOHO Writer

Today is Monday, September 17th, and I am learning to use the ZOHO Writer. This look very familiar, it seems to be modeled after Microsoft Office. Let's try a few things:

With a chill in the air, but a very sunny day, falls is creeping along.

1. Today is the first day of the rest of your life, use it well.
2. Tomorrow will be a new day to do something that means something.
3. Yesterday is for memories, let's hope they make you smile
   

Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious.

Brendan Gill

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.

Billy Wilder
US (Austrian-born) movie director (1906 - 2002)

This is a great way to work on a computer with out the use of Microsoft Office. It works very similar and I like how easy it was to post to my blog. I can see may applications for this type of program. With the microsoft products being so very expensive, this works quite well.

#16 Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that libraries are using them

I watched the video by Meredith Gorran Farkas from Norwich University and also read about Wiki's. Wiki's have a tremendous value, but, for a person such as myself, not having total control over the content would take some getting used to. I really like the idea of a guide to a city for a conference. This would be a great resource for new attendees. This would also be true for a community. What a great resource for a newcomer to find all the great places, etc in an area. Using the information from Wiki's for research is another thing altogether. Given the ability for them to be edited by anyone, leaves too much open for error.I can see many uses for wikis in a professional setting, such as the library. It would be a great way to work on policy and procedures, giving staff the opportunity for input. It would be a great way for people to express innovative ideas. Sometimes, a thought or idea needs to be jotted down immediately, and being able to put it on a wiki at any time would keep the creative process going

#17 Add an entry into the Sandbox Wiki created with PB Wiki

I added my blog, technology adventure, to the SandBox. I also added a post to a wiki about tennis: I wrote about the USOpen that I watch over the weekend.