Thing 47! Evaluation

Some Observations about MORE THINGS on 17 June:

1. Some that were the "most fun" were also the "most frustrating" for me. Even though I spent lots of time working on GOOGLE Maps and screencasting, I am not satisfied with my efforts, and want to continue to use those THINGS.

2. Thanks to the Things, I spend much time on Facebook and Twitter now. It is amazing how they change our communication and the way that we spend our time. When I just checked, I found that I have 117 friends on Facebook, and follow 117 on Twitter. What a coincidence!

3. There are many potential library uses for the Things we just completed, and I hope to implement what I have learned professionally as well as personally.

4. I found it easier to do the first 23 Things last summer than I did this round when I started while I was working full time. My preference is to work on one a day rather than a group of them at a time to try to finish by the deadline.

5. RSS is probably the Thing that I use the least, and WebJunction one that I want to use more than I currently do.

6. Some of the Things that I found most fun and useful were the music and photo ones. It was great to learn about sites (like Animoto) that I had not used before.

7. I enjoyed looking at the blogs of other Things participants, especially after "meeting" some of them on the 23 Things Ning and Twitter.

8. Thank you for offering More Things!

Thing 46! WebJunction

Winnipeg Junction, Minnesota
Originally uploaded by afiler

Thing 46


I will admit that for me WebJunction is one of the least utilized Things. Even though I had used the site before the first 23 Things, I neglect to use it routinely as I do Facebook, the 23 Things Ning and Twitter. After finishing these Things, I hope to explore some of the courses available from the University of North Texas and the Illinois State Library. I enjoyed the librarian spotlight on Kristen Mastel and exploring some of the information in the featured groups. The Calendar of Events is also a useful feature. A MINITEX Messenger EXTRA (June 8, 2009), features a special cover story on WebJunction with valuable information from Bill DeJohn, Ann Walker Smalley, Mary Ann Van Cura, Deanna Sylte and Jennifer Hootman.

Thing 45! Cloud Computing

clouds
Originally uploaded by Sheila in Millstone

Cloud Computing.

Thanks to Sheila in Millstone for this photo on FLICKR!


In the June 15, 2009 issue of TIME (page 40), Jon Rubenstein was quoted about people not wanting to be tethered to a computer. He stated, "People keep their data all over the place. It's spread throughout the cloud." I read that before starting on Thing 45, but have been conscious of Cloud Computing being I knew it was one of the last Things. Without being aware, I had been doing Cloud Computing for a long time. More Things on A Stick has helped me to do more, and to try to start organizing. The ZOHO that we have used at work for over a year has been very useful for meeting agendas and minutes, and especially for a project that the librarians have been working on to redesign our subject pages. When we work at multiple campuses, and do not see each other often, it is a great way to keep current without needing to send countless email messages.

The readings on Cloud Computing were very interesting. A major concern seems to be security. I need to do more exploring of the options available, especially for libraries, that I began learning about in Thing 45.

Thing 44! The Economy

Thing 44 provides many helpful sites for living in today's economy. Because we have recently redesigned our subject web pages, I was happy to find good sites to add for ECONOMICS. On the right, I added a variety from Thing 44 for The Economy.

The drawback that I found in living in a rural area was using sites that had nothing for my zip code of 56143. An example is the Printable Coupons one with "Nothing found today". It is better to hunt for a specific store like Wal-Mart (not my favorite place to shop) than to put in my zip code. Another example is Erideshare . When I put in my zip code with a 40 mile radius (the distance that I drive to work), there were no results. This site would probably be useful in a metro area. The Freecycle site also had nothing for my zip code, but I could browse what was listed for others.

With the popularity of gardening this year following Michelle Obama's planting of a White House garden, I think the Victory Garden site and University of Minnesota Extension sites are good.

I have used online banking for years, but did not add accounts to any of the suggested sites here for doing budgeting. The convenience of online banking is great. If I forget to write an amount for a check in my check book, I can check for it a few days later online.

Thing 43! Online TV & Video

Thing 43 was new for me as I had not used the online video sources Hulu and Joost before for watching programming. I watched a segment from Meet the Press on Hulu and added a widget here on recent commentary on the Obama administration. On Joost I watched a Jon Stewart segment from Comedy Central. I am not a regular watcher of any situation comedies, but am happy to know about sources to watch any programming that I might have missed and want to watch later. I have a relative currently doing video at the College World Series in Omaha, but did not find any coverage of that to watch.

Services like Hulu and Joost change the typical TV viewing habits for many people. If someone misses an episode of their favorite program, it is easy to watch it at any time, and much simpler than setting a VCR.

Thing 42! Music 2.0

For the last few months at work, I have been listening to MPR online on my work computer when I am back in my office area. I listen to news, and had not tried any of the music sites from Thing 41 until now. It was really fun to "customize" my Pandora list with artists I wanted. I will probably add more later. There is a link to the Pandora artists I selected on the sidebar of the blog. The QuickMix option is my favorite. I also established accounts with live365 and Receiva Internet Radio, and selected some favorites there to return to later.

After Jim Ed Poole retired, and the MPR Morning Show stopped broadcasting, Dale Connelly began Radio Heartland online. In the February 2009 issue of Minnesota Monthly, he said, "As people become accustomed to using their computers as radios, and as digital broadcasting becomes more commonplace, they will discover that it's just as easy to see what we're up to as it's been for the past 25 years." My listening habits have changed, and will continue as I discover more online options. (Thanks to De Bijloke for this photo of Jazz at Lincoln Center on Flickr, 07/07/07).

Thing 41! Mashup Your Life.

powered by lifestream.fm!

There are now many sites to combine different accounts, and I just signed up for a few today. I like FriendFeed for Twitter, and found nine there, but none of my 113 friends from Facebook. Being I already had the Twitter and Delicious accounts on the sidebar, I put the new Lifestream one here. Later, I will probably omit the separate listings, if I decide to keep this, but I do not know how many accounts that I want!