I've used Reader's Choices and Reader's Group Guides quite a bit when helping people with book clubs. They've been around for awhile and are a nice "one stop shop" for bookclubs to get ideas about what to read, and discussion questions. Booksprouts wasn't very interesting to me - but it might be useful if I wanted to run a bookclub. Didn't check the other two.
Open Culture looks pretty interesting - I think that's one I'll spend some time playing with later. Someday when I'm more organized, Book Mooch could come in very handy. I almost prefer Paperback Swap - I liked the way you can browse. Book Mooch didn't have a separate category for mysteries, which was sad. :-( I might just use Swaptree if I want to get rid of some of my cds - of course, I'm sure I'll find just as many I'd like to get...
I don't think the book is going away any time soon. Even with the convenience of handheld readers, people of all ages still seem to prefer the paper format. Online or books in other mediums are a great option for classrooms, though. I'll read journals online in a spare moment.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
35 Books 2.0
I have an account with LibraryThing, and enjoy using it when I think of it. :-) I don't worry too much about cataloging my own books, but I do like to keep note of what I've read and what I thought about it. I have a large notebook at work that I jot down what I'm interested in and what I thought when/if I finally read it; partially because I like the feel of handwriting it. :-)
I didn't care for lib.rario.us very much - when I do catalog my own things, I want more control over what I'm doing. We have an extensive music collection, for example, (probably 1500+ by now - I lost count some time ago) and "rock" isn't descriptive enough. There's southern rock, indie rock, alternative...etc. I had at one time a spreadsheet of everything - mainly so I didn't buy duplicates at Cheapo. For me, that's one main reason to keep track of what we have, and the spreadsheet served that purpose quite well. Itrackmine looked interesting - I plan on playing around more with that one. I know I've lost track of things I've loaned to people - this might help me remember to get them back!
So far I've not been very interested in reading on my phone - I read so fast that so far none of the electronic sources keep up with me - I can turn pages much faster. I do think Twitterlit is fun, and use that. I don't have twitter updates sent to my phone, but read them through the internet.
I just checked out Bookcalendar, and they've just added Twitter. I'm their first follower! Yay me. :-) Anyway, I love reader's advisory tools. When the Uncle Edgar's newsletter comes, I grab my highlighter and am busy for awhile. I also like that I can get a feel for a book without having to read it - very helpful for reader's advisory. I've used the "what's next" database before, but not lately - this was a timely reminder. I wasn't so impressed with the results from "What Should I read next?" - the searches I did turned up some strange results.
I didn't care for lib.rario.us very much - when I do catalog my own things, I want more control over what I'm doing. We have an extensive music collection, for example, (probably 1500+ by now - I lost count some time ago) and "rock" isn't descriptive enough. There's southern rock, indie rock, alternative...etc. I had at one time a spreadsheet of everything - mainly so I didn't buy duplicates at Cheapo. For me, that's one main reason to keep track of what we have, and the spreadsheet served that purpose quite well. Itrackmine looked interesting - I plan on playing around more with that one. I know I've lost track of things I've loaned to people - this might help me remember to get them back!
So far I've not been very interested in reading on my phone - I read so fast that so far none of the electronic sources keep up with me - I can turn pages much faster. I do think Twitterlit is fun, and use that. I don't have twitter updates sent to my phone, but read them through the internet.
I just checked out Bookcalendar, and they've just added Twitter. I'm their first follower! Yay me. :-) Anyway, I love reader's advisory tools. When the Uncle Edgar's newsletter comes, I grab my highlighter and am busy for awhile. I also like that I can get a feel for a book without having to read it - very helpful for reader's advisory. I've used the "what's next" database before, but not lately - this was a timely reminder. I wasn't so impressed with the results from "What Should I read next?" - the searches I did turned up some strange results.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
More Travel - 33
I love the idea of user driven travel sites - who better to get the real scoop from than someone who has been there? I've had the experience of thinking a place looked really interesting, and then being disappointed when I got there. (For example, my husband and I both thought that if someone had planned an entire trip around the Alamo, they would have been very disappointed!) I played around with a few of the sites, using places I'd been as examples - San Francisco (lived there) and Scotland. The sites I spent the most time on were Boo, Gusto and Igougo.
I liked the guides on Boo - there was even one for Helensburgh, the town where my niece and nephew live. There were quite a few pictures that looked similar to ours. :-) I think all men take a picture of John Logie Baird, one of the inventors of television...Of course, there will be more information for the larger cities, but that's to be expected. I did have more luck in the Travel guides rather than trying keyword searches.
I didn't think Gusto had as many places to choose from, but I did like the individual travel guides created by members.
I tend to use flickr or facebook more as a travel journal - post the pictures and add commentary to them as I go. For the next trip I take, I may use Vicarious or My life of travel.
I liked the guides on Boo - there was even one for Helensburgh, the town where my niece and nephew live. There were quite a few pictures that looked similar to ours. :-) I think all men take a picture of John Logie Baird, one of the inventors of television...Of course, there will be more information for the larger cities, but that's to be expected. I did have more luck in the Travel guides rather than trying keyword searches.
I didn't think Gusto had as many places to choose from, but I did like the individual travel guides created by members.
I tend to use flickr or facebook more as a travel journal - post the pictures and add commentary to them as I go. For the next trip I take, I may use Vicarious or My life of travel.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
32 Google Maps
I read through the Google Mashups article, and found several that I thought would be useful. Mapness looked very interesting, although I didn't play with it. Maybe I'll use it to document our trip to Scotland and Ireland. Then, when we go back I could use the AA Route planner, London Knowledge, and/or Tube J/P to plan where we'll go in England. (Although I must recommend getting a GPS - I think we'd still be trying to find our way out of the Dublin airport without one!) I reconstructed our Dublin Bus route (from St Margaret's to Parnell St.) using the Dublin Transport mashup. The idea is similar to the Metro transit calculators here in Mpls, but it's more visual; and you can drag the map to find where it is you're trying to go.
I played with Broadway 2day and liked it quite a bit. It lists Broadway shows, shows their location, and amenities (with reviews and comments) near each theatre. I'll definitely use this if/when we go back to New York.
DriveScore was interesting - I put my address in, and it shows "stars/celebrities" who live nearby. One result was that Eric Barton lives near me. I have no idea who this is, but I guess he's a football player? I have seen Bill Brown (Former Viking) around quite a bit - he's not far from us. I'm not sure why that's important to know, but someone must think it is!
I created a quick map of some of the locations we visited in Scotland, and linked some to a picture.
View Larger Map
I played with Broadway 2day and liked it quite a bit. It lists Broadway shows, shows their location, and amenities (with reviews and comments) near each theatre. I'll definitely use this if/when we go back to New York.
DriveScore was interesting - I put my address in, and it shows "stars/celebrities" who live nearby. One result was that Eric Barton lives near me. I have no idea who this is, but I guess he's a football player? I have seen Bill Brown (Former Viking) around quite a bit - he's not far from us. I'm not sure why that's important to know, but someone must think it is!
I created a quick map of some of the locations we visited in Scotland, and linked some to a picture.
View Larger Map
Monday, March 16, 2009
31 More Twitter
I'll confess - I'm enjoying Twitter a lot more than I expected to. As of today, I'm following 248 and 126 are following me. (oops - make that 127.) Most of these are unknown to me, and many are following me because I follow them.
I haven't played around much with the new apps, although I have been reading about and looking at some. Many of them need to be downloaded, and I can't do that at work and haven't done it at home. I do use my phone to update both facebook and twitter, although I don't have notices sent to my phone. I did bite the bullet and get the unlimited text and data (only $30 a month. When I first started using FB, I had the updates sent, but as I was on it longer and had more going on - it got to be annoying.
I did add the twitter badge to my blog, and added myself to "We're following" and "Just Tweet it." I've also used both of those to find people to follow. I've tried to look at most of the other participant's blogs, and added them if they seemed to be using Twitter. I'm also following Mr Tweet, and look at the page occasionally. I've used Twitter karma, and found it interesting.
Looking at the various Twitter apps, I see some that look interesting and may try some of them in the future. Big Tweet might be interesting; Twitpics will be useful if I post a picture...Maybe one of my sister in law's kitten! Group Tweet might come in handy for planning activities, etc. with others using Twitter. Twitter Alerts seems like blog or google alerts, alerting you if your search/name is mentioned. I didn't find Twellow or TwitterTroll particularly useful.
I haven't played around much with the new apps, although I have been reading about and looking at some. Many of them need to be downloaded, and I can't do that at work and haven't done it at home. I do use my phone to update both facebook and twitter, although I don't have notices sent to my phone. I did bite the bullet and get the unlimited text and data (only $30 a month. When I first started using FB, I had the updates sent, but as I was on it longer and had more going on - it got to be annoying.
I did add the twitter badge to my blog, and added myself to "We're following" and "Just Tweet it." I've also used both of those to find people to follow. I've tried to look at most of the other participant's blogs, and added them if they seemed to be using Twitter. I'm also following Mr Tweet, and look at the page occasionally. I've used Twitter karma, and found it interesting.
Looking at the various Twitter apps, I see some that look interesting and may try some of them in the future. Big Tweet might be interesting; Twitpics will be useful if I post a picture...Maybe one of my sister in law's kitten! Group Tweet might come in handy for planning activities, etc. with others using Twitter. Twitter Alerts seems like blog or google alerts, alerting you if your search/name is mentioned. I didn't find Twellow or TwitterTroll particularly useful.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Thing 30
I'm back! Anyway - looking through the possibilities, the two that piqued my interest the most were Feed my Inbox and Feed my Search. I still use bloglines, but I don't log in often enough to get benefit from calendar alerts, or filters via RSS. (That's what my phone is for!)
I set up a few sites to come to my inbox, and so far I've been finding that useful. I haven't done much with feed my search since I couldn't think of a search I do often, but it would certainly be convenient for research, etc. It seems similar to Google Alerts, just going to a reader instead of email.
I am still using delicious occasionally. They've changed the browse function - it seems to limit the results to one page instead of being able to scroll through more than one page of new/popular bookmarks. I tend to like to browse through various bookmarks, saving ones that are interesting. Popcaular's fun - I usually check at least a few of the links to see if I'm interested in them. I've also used the tag search a few times when I'm interested in a particular topic.
I've loosely organized Bloglines into rough categories for my feeds, and tag sites in delicious according to how I'd think to look for them later. Both of these tools could be useful for classes - an instructor could set up an account for the class, or share links/feeds of interest with students.
I set up a few sites to come to my inbox, and so far I've been finding that useful. I haven't done much with feed my search since I couldn't think of a search I do often, but it would certainly be convenient for research, etc. It seems similar to Google Alerts, just going to a reader instead of email.
I am still using delicious occasionally. They've changed the browse function - it seems to limit the results to one page instead of being able to scroll through more than one page of new/popular bookmarks. I tend to like to browse through various bookmarks, saving ones that are interesting. Popcaular's fun - I usually check at least a few of the links to see if I'm interested in them. I've also used the tag search a few times when I'm interested in a particular topic.
I've loosely organized Bloglines into rough categories for my feeds, and tag sites in delicious according to how I'd think to look for them later. Both of these tools could be useful for classes - an instructor could set up an account for the class, or share links/feeds of interest with students.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Google Tools
I've played around with some of these off and on for awhile. I've been using google "text" on my phone for some time - for example, I'll text weather minneapolis to 466453 and it will text me back with the weather for Mpls. I'm still trying to resist getting a data plan on my phone - I'm on the computer much of the day as it is. GPS would be handy though.
I set up a few google alerts - Franken, my last name, and the name of my blog. When I set it up for the blog, I didn't use quotes, so I'm getting some interesting results. I may just keep using this; changing or adding alerts as something strikes my fancy. I do have a gmail account, but don't use it very much.
I have a calendar set up in google that I did some time ago. I'll confess I haven't used it much because I tend to use Outlook calendars for work related things, a print calendar on the side of the fridge (so my husband can see it too!) and my cell phone calendar to sound off to remind me of things: "Don't forget the cat food!" It could be useful for collaboration, I just haven't needed it for such a thing.
Sites could come in handy for projects - maybe if I get ambitious, I could set up a genealogy site for all my Irish relatives to contribute to. If Jim ever gets going on my Swedish genealogy I could do one for that too. :-)
I set up a few google alerts - Franken, my last name, and the name of my blog. When I set it up for the blog, I didn't use quotes, so I'm getting some interesting results. I may just keep using this; changing or adding alerts as something strikes my fancy. I do have a gmail account, but don't use it very much.
I have a calendar set up in google that I did some time ago. I'll confess I haven't used it much because I tend to use Outlook calendars for work related things, a print calendar on the side of the fridge (so my husband can see it too!) and my cell phone calendar to sound off to remind me of things: "Don't forget the cat food!" It could be useful for collaboration, I just haven't needed it for such a thing.
Sites could come in handy for projects - maybe if I get ambitious, I could set up a genealogy site for all my Irish relatives to contribute to. If Jim ever gets going on my Swedish genealogy I could do one for that too. :-)
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