#22 Audiobooks (or "The end is in sight ")

Well you get this far and then a major trip! Why can't I open an account and download a book with NetLibrary? I would have thought with all this gained knowledge that a simple matter of opening account would not be a problem, but apparently it is. I don't know the answer but I am not too sad really.
As I said in my last post I have a MP3 player and use it everyday when I go walking. I walk for at least 1/2 an hour everyday, except Mondays when I work a long day, this gives me the opportunity to listen to books that I haven't had the chance to read. For instance not long ago I listened to Kate Grenville's, "The secret river'. I must look funny sometimes because I can be walking along and start to laugh or make an audible groan when something happens in a book. My children would argue here that the odd laugh or groan is preferable to me listening to music and walking along singing.
I also listen to audio books in the car and recently a borrower in the library mentioned she listens to audio books while she sews. Great idea, an idea I put into practice just the other day. I really love audio books they let you "read with your ears" so you can do other things as well. Fantastic!!!!

#21 podcasts, smodcasts, anycasts??

This exercise is looking at various sites where you can download and listen to podcasts. I have all ready found sites that allow you to do this prior to starting this exercise- I searched the net when I got a MP3 player. One of my favorit eplaces to download podcasts from is the ABC radio site, you can download selected parts of radio shows - do you know how much good stuff gets played on radio in the middle of the night? Or during the day when we are at work?

Of the three sites suggested in the exercise I found http://podcasts.yahoo.com/ to be the most user friendly. It was quite clear how to find podcasts, topics etc and there is quite a variety of topics to chose from. However if you browse around the Internet there are so many sites that offer podcasts, it almost is a case of do a search for something you like and lo and behold a podcast is on offer.

#20 You Tube....

You tube seems to be in the news so often these days that it is almost a household name. One of my friends sons has uploaded various videos he has taken. I think it is a thing that the younger people do, that makes me sound old doesn't it? Some of the news items about it are negative but I think with proper care and when needed parental guidance You Tube can be a great tool and even give a person a sense of self achievement by seeing their videos on a public forum.
Anyway I have included a link to a particular video clip that was brought to my attention through a patchwork group I belong to. It is rather special, almost goose bump stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA By the way it has nothing to do with patchwork........


There are other video clips of the same fellow on you tube I haven't actually looked at them, always thinking of download limit! But I believe they are equally as good.

Now it is off to my sewing machine!!!!! The relevance of the sea gulls ..none whatsoever!

#19 web 2.0 awards list

I thought the best way to show that I have had a look at the web 2.0 awards list was to show something that I have made with the help of a site on the list. The site I explored and had fun with was http://swicki.eurekster.com/. I created a unique search engine (I think!) and will add the link here.

check out the quilter swicki at eurekster.com

As you can see I am nearing the end of the 23 things. I am also nearing the end of my Double Wedding Ring Quilt. Yes you did read that, I am making a concerted effort to finish both the quilt and the 23 things by next Monday...today is Tuesday. Why? Well on Monday I am starting a correspondence university course and think all my extra time and brain power may be struggling in coming to terms being a student again!!! Wish me luck. I am really looking forward to it, but when I received my first subject text books toady I did wonder what I have got myself into.

# 18 Zoho writer & Google Docs...hmmmmm

Wow! When I read that online application tools such as this could be the end of the Microsoft Office packages my immediate response was No Way! But hey they could be, why spend hundreds of $ on something when it is here to access free? You even get cute little emotion thingies.... So what is Zoho Writer, it simply is an online word processor, letting you do all the things a word processing package would but free. Who says nothing in the world is free?

Google Docs, seem to be spread sheet applications....hey there is so much on the net, just there waiting to be discovered! Get through all the junk and there are pretty cool things. Imagine not needing to load software to be able to use your computer to do the basics we do so regularly now. The sky is the limit.

MY SEWING still progresses, and yes progress is the word. I have completely finished half the quilt. I have also been making things such as a Christmas Stocking ( how prepared is that?) and toady I sewed 24 1/2 square triangles using a method I found on line. Half square triangles are a square made up of two different triangles of fabric. They can be fiddly to make but at http://www.blockcentral.com/ I found a brilliant method using paper and sewing a long dotted lines. It made 24 perfect ones, very exciting for a quilter who likes to find the easy methods!

*see photo above , 1 of the 24 half square triangles

http://www.blockcentral.com/hst/hst-1inch.pdf is the instructions,m habve aread and see how super easy!

Wiki's ...#16 #17

Haven't posted for a while. So thought I would have a look today at Wiki's. To me they seem like a bit of fun but not to be taken too seriously. How do you sort fact from fiction? I don't think you can...so just enjoy them.
For fun check out the wiki here
http://bullrunlibrary.pbwiki.com/
and you can find out the number 1 song on the day you were born.

"The first ever wiki site was created for the Portland Pattern Repository in 1995. That site now hosts tens of thousands of pages.


http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WelcomeVisitors
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiHistory
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiDesignPrinciples "

Taken from "http://wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki"

So I guess you are asking what is a wiki. It is a web site that people can add too, hence my feelings about fact and fiction. There are lots of wikis to explore just google wiki and you get 13,800,000 hits. When you have a spare moment or two check out a few they are a great time waster.

One of the exercises set down for #17 was to explore PBWiki , this is a wiki that is like a "wiki playground" in that you can input onto the wiki. This wiki is all about favorites, ie favorite blogs, books etc. I have added my blog into the list and see some familiar blogs there too. It is interesting to have a list of peoples favorites, maybe a little voyeristic? No simply, being a sticky beak!!

#15 On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0 ...

Wow! What an age we live in. I remember when I first started my course at Prahran TAFE the most technological thing we had to learn was the typewriter! Hasn't the world changed in the last 20 + years?
I remember going to Frankston Libray with my mother before I went to school, at the time the library was virtually divided down the centre one side was for the adults and the other side was for the children. If I had chosen my books before my mother came to me I had to just wait. It was just not done to go into the "adult" side. The other thing was the library had books...full stop. Naturally they used a card system too. Now you walk into a library adult and children's collections can be mingled, there are computers, talking books, CD Roms, videos, DVDs all these were not heard of not so many years ago. Libraries progress and staff have to too. It is that simple.
After progressing through 15 of the 23 things in Web 2.0 I have learnt so much and have to wonder what will happen in the future. Of course there will be changes in libraries but there will also be constants. Can you imagine snuggling up in bed with your PC? Nothing like a book to escape with. However the thirst for immediate knowledge is gaining momentum. People have mastered the art of Internet and realise that knowledge is only a "click" away, although some of that instant knowledge can be a little dubious. Due to the Internet people expect instant answers and therefore don't want a book the size of "War and Peace" to read through to find the snippet of detail that they are after. We in the library service must try to keep up with the advances in technology and be prepared to use what is available. If we as information deliverers aren't delivering it means we are failing ourselves and our customers / clients.
I think the biggest thing I have learnt doing this Web 2.0 course so far is just have a go. What is the worst that can happen? The more we learn and can see uses for the better people we become, both personally and professionally! Lets learn and pass on knowledge, it is a natural evolution.