BCL 23 Things Thing #21 Virtual Worlds

Okay, I'll admit I hate games and think online games are a huge waste of time.  I've read about people, even librarians, who get all caught up in their virtual lives, to which I say, "Get a real life!"  Did you notice that all the girls on the online Second Life tutorials were buxom Barbie dolls in one form or another?  There's a reason my keyboard keeps typing "Second Lie" for "Second Life".  I have way too much stuf to do in real life, to get caught up with virtual people and projects on the internet.

It was kinda' fun to create avatars, though:

Here's one I made using DoppelMe:

She looks a bit demented...

Here's a nicer looking one I made in FaceYour Manga...

I'd use her on websites and Facebook as an avatar.  You'll notice that I avoided the glasses on both!

It was kind of fun making Avatars, similar to paper dolls.

Marilyn Johnson writes about modern librarianship in the book, This Book is Overdue, and spends several chapters on her work with Second Life.

Thing #20 Security and Technology Threats Online

Okay This topic always makes me a bit paranoid.... Are my passwords strong enough? Are there viruses on my computer? Should I answer this e-mail? 

I try to be security-conscious and have virus protection software on my computer.  I try to be vigilant about downloading suspicious things and am annoyed when people send me thing with viruses in them.

I found the information on password protection sites such as Roboform or Keepass very interesting and would consider using them.  This would also be useful in the case of your demise, if your loved ones had your password to this sort of system, they could get into all your accounts.  I recently read an article about this problem, now that many people are paying bills online and have many other online accounts. After Death - Protecting your Digital Afterlife - a book by Evan Carroll and John Romano  addresses this topic. http://www.npr.org/2011/01/10/132617124/after-death-protecting-your-digital-afterlife.

In the future I'll try to be safe, but not paranoid....

Thing #19 Search Engines

As most people do, during my daily searches for esoteric information on the web, I just go to that little Google box in the upper right of my Internet Explorer screen.  It's easy to type in just about anything and get way more results than anyone needs.

For this my 23 Things ecercise, I was to use 2 search engines and one Meta Search engine to look up a topic on the internet. 

Because I am thinking about opening an ETSY shop for my collection of vintage aprons that have been languishing in a trunk since I moved to Florida three years ago, I searched for Vintage Apron images on Google, Yahoo and Metacrawler.  I wanted to look at ways people displayed their aprons in order to present them at their best.

I found that Google had 1,390,000 results - not all were really aprons.  Yahoo had 33,000 images, but when I used Metacrawler I found that all the images they gave said "Exclusively at Yahoo". 

Here are some of the aprons:

So many options!  I guess I'll wait until my daughter visits and helps me in setting up "Nancy's Aprons" as a shop on ETSY.  Meanwhile, if you need aprons, I've got 'em.

As far as the search engines go, The Meta engine would be good if you had a very esoteric or hard-to-find topic.  Using the Metacrawler did lead me to searching my name and wonder just what someone would get if they did the $49.95 background check on me.

Thing # 17 SlideShare/ Information and Document Sharing

Just a bit of catching up as we discuss Slideshare.

I don't really like Power Point presentations.  Many times they are so badly done, with too much information on each page, and deadly dull.  Sllideshare presents Power Point from  all over the world, and most that I vewed were in the dull and badly done categories.  I think the Death by Powerpoint one was amusing and very apt.

I can see some possibilites for this application: If you're a teacher or instructor, you can load your class presentations on the site for your students to use at home.  Most Colleges and Universities have a similar program in Blackboard.

I'm wondering if this would work in libraries for an easy tutorial in using the Library's databases.  Usually they have so many steps that users need instructions.

Thing #18 Google Products Panoramio and Google Translate

I'm skipping Thing #17 for now as the slide program won't open on my Internet.

My Goodness! Google has so many products that it's hard to choose just two more....

The first product I choose is Panoramio - it's a photo product, but the photos are linked to Google Earth.  I found it easy to search for places using the map or search box.  There aren't a whole lot of photos added yet, but I did find some nice ones of Space Shuttle launches from the Cape and views of Kuwait City where I lived at one time.  It's somewhat like Flick-R but more devoted to places than personal photos.  You can also share travel itineraries with others and link your photos geographicaly to Google Maps.

The other Google product I investigated is Google Translate.  It's fascinating!  You type in the word on the left in your language or another and on the right it appears in a second language.  Many of them can be spoken aloud by a voice, some realistic and some machine-made.  They have lots of obscure and not so obscure languages.  I'm sure kids would have fun typing in bad words or phrases to see what would come out.  And yes, it does work to a degree.  There were even multiple alternative choices in German for "Bastard" so you could call someone all sorts of bad things.  The voice sounds so cheery, though, you just don't get the correct inflection....

In a more serious application this could be used in a pinch to communicate with patrons who speak a language you don't.  It waould also be great on a smartphone while you are traveling. Here's "I need to print out my boarding pass" in Finnish, "Minun täytyy tulostaa minun lippuni."

I also found the helps for searching in Google to be interesting and I learned a few things reading it.

 

Thing #16 BCL 23 Things - Online Applications and The Cloud

It's been a while since I had a chance to update my Blog.  Life gets in the way, sometimes.  Thanks, Susan for the reminder of where I was in my 23 Things.

For Thing #16 I explored Google Docs.  It's a really cool application that is free software for creating documents, presentations and spreadsheets online and having others on your team edit them.  It's totally free and just like using Microsoft products which cost big bucks.  I really liked the ability to collaborate and get things updated by others on a team and I see how this could be useful in the office and learning environments. 

I was also interested in the information on cloud computing.  There was an interesting article on it recently in Bloomberg Businessweek (March 7 issue) Called "The Power of the Cloud" which addressed cloud computing, what it is, and the battle between the major providers of these applications.  It's BIG business.

See you in the cloud....

Thing #15 Online Productivity Tools

For this task in my 23 Things, I set up a Google calendar and an iGoogle page.  I was able to change the header and the gadgets to those which would work for me.  The iGoogle was easy to do, but I had a few problems with the Google calendar when I went back later to add things.
The other productivity tools would be helpful, especially if I were a "listmaker".  But then, if I was this organized I would probably already have a system set up.
The mindmapping was interesting as I have used this in planning events and also when teaching Girl Scouts how to plan for the year.  Usually a big piece of paper and markers is sufficient for me, though.