Social Networking

As I was already a member of MySpace and LinkedIn, I chose to also join Facebook, despite my previous avoidance. My daughter, age 23, has been a member of Facebook for quite a while, and despite the fact that I felt I would be invading her privacy to some degree if I were to join, I shrugged my shoulders and joined anyway. LinkedIn is more my style--not a lot of flash, just my name and background for friends and colleagues to find me and keep up with my whereabouts.

I'm appreciative of all the networking sites; I suspect they will be found to be a valuable tool in preventing/alleviating depression (yes, that's right, I really think so!) in those who are otherwise isolated.

Technology

Technology? Here are links to some of my favorites:

http://www.scifi.com/eureka (SciFi Channel's 'Eureka'--watch episodes on line)

http://www.archive.org/index.php (Internet Archive--amazing! Play around with it. It's so cool!)

http://hcpl.lib.overdrive.com/ECC2D89A-92FE-4B42-BA2A-2089109681BE/10/320/en/Default.htm (HCPL's eAudio!)

http://www.geocaching.com/ (Geocaching--a treasure hunt! Someone hides a prize, posts the coordinates of its location, and you find it.)

http://www.majorgeeks.com/ (Find software to download, many are free, some request donations, and others are commercial, but this site is a tremendous source.)

Wikis

Added a TV show and restaurant to HCPL's wiki. I've edited several articles for Wikipedia in the past (can't stand to see/read bad grammar :o}). Personally, I love wikis. Those who say the articles aren't reliable are probably forgetting that there isn't anything in print that shouldn't be taken with a grain of salt. Traditional encyclopedias are out of date by the time they're published because so much time has elapsed between the final editing and publication.

One of the best examples of the value of wikis is the recent disappearance of Steve Fossett's plane. Within minutes of the news breaking, an update to the 'Steve Fossett' entry reflected the event and updates were documented as they occurred. Now THAT'S Web 2.0!

Future of Libraries--2.0 and Beyond

I enjoyed the articles about Library/Librarians 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and beyond! I've always envisioned libraries as being available 24/7, 360 degrees. I'm looking forward to going to the spa, and, on my way out, checking the kiosk for a resource regarding the best way to keep my nails healthy or downloading a new relaxation file to listen to on the way home.

I also see roadside rest stops that have similar kiosks for printing hard copy or downloading computer files of books and music, as well as multimedia, interactive access to geographic/travel information. Next, we'll need to figure a way to transmit collective intelligence through telepathy. I wonder just how many generations away that will be...? :o}

Technorati blog claim post

This blog is now tagged with iHCPL, 23 Things, and technology. Searching for 'personality' anywhere within a blog turned up a huge number of hits completely irrelevant to my topic, and a search for blogs about personality couldn't find a hit at all. Will keep it in mind in future, though. See below my avatar for a link to add me to your Technorati favorites. I altered the html a bit so that when your cursor approaches the widget, it says "Add CyberDabbler to Technorati Favorites."

Couldn't help but notice the WTF link to a porn blog. It's best to remember to take all this for what it is--a microcosm in cyberspace.

Technorati Profile

del.icio.us

Added buttons to my task bar, tagged a few web pages, and bundled my tags. Have done this before under another pseudonym, but haven't used it much. Perhaps I'll find it more valuable when I have a research project to do or as more folks make use of it. I love knowing about new technology when it first arrives, but generally wait to use it until it's evolved a bit.

Library Elf

Subscribed--one small glitch: Library Elf asks for library card number plus PIN, which is great for Harris County, but Houston Public uses a last name plus library card number system. I used the library card number as they asked and left the PIN blank. We'll see if it actually works. Not sure why this service is valuable, though, because I'm unaware of any library system that doesn't already do this and I certainly don't need more than one reminder :o}.
*Update--received notice of hold request availability 24 hours earlier from Library Elf than from HCPL!!!!! Anyone listening? :o}

OMG, They killed Kenny!

Hehehe. I had the best time creating a new South Park character, Beanie, on http://www.sp-studio.de/.

LibraryThing

I've been a member of Librarything for a while, but have not made use of it. I was introduced to it by an avid reader/collector friend, who is very active on the site. She continues to increase her personal collection, while I use every opportunity to downsize mine. Funny how people are so much the same, yet so different, yes? In any case, I created a new account for this project and entered five of my personal books for your perusing pleasure.

Hmmm

Apparently the assignments are shifting through some sort of space-time fold; I thought I had addressed all the topics on Week 4, but now I find that I neglected to mention how I searched for feeds. I've known of RSS for quite a while and, although the novelty wore off for me sometime ago (I have little time to spare each day for recreational surfing, so I hesitate to subscribe to anything that will likely lead me to do so), I'm still very much aware of the RSS icon on web sites. In order to subscribe and add links to my blog, I simply used the Bloglines search tool.

More RSS Feeds

Didn't have any trouble subscribing--the horrendously obscene number is more likely to make it overwhelming to choose than to find. Being discerning by nature, I spent some time picking and choosing among a few library news feeds and commercial site feeds. I filled out my list of ten with blogs of co-workers. See the links to them in my links list on the right.

RSS Feeds

Chose my ten feeds. Only thing is, last time I subscribed to an RSS feed, I didn't use the service. I've never been a news junkie--prefer to search for info when my interest is piqued. Maybe this time, I'll find it more useful. In any case, mission accomplished.

Alma Mater

Here's a photo of the Ohio River at the site of the first college I attended, Hanover College, in Hanover, Indiana. This particular view is taken from what is called "The Point" on the Hanover campus. I found it on Flickr (completely free of copyright restrictions!), enlarged it a bit on Pixer, et voila!