My Learning Experience...

I loved learning about wikis and zoho. I think I will be using youtube more for fun flaky vids to put in my blogs. There are a lot of cool things on there. I have learned about things I was interested in but never had the time to discover like flickr and RSS feeds. I'm going to try subscribing to a podcast to learn Japanese. That should be fun.

I was actually surprised by how much fun I had completing this program. I would love to do something like this again. It was a lot of fun to play and discover new applications on the web. Even if I don't use them myself, I can now teach others about the opportunities of web apps!

Audio Books

The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific
by J. Maarten Troost

At age twenty-six, Maarten Troost decided to pack up his flip-flops and move to a remote South Pacific island. The idea of dropping everything and moving to the ends of the earth was irresistibly romantic. He should have known better.
This book tells the hilarious story of what happens when he discovers that the island is not the paradise he dreamed of. Falling into one amusing misadventure after another, Troost struggles with stifling heat, deadly bacteria, and polluted seas in a country where the only music to be heard is "La Macarena." He and his girlfriend, Sylvia, contend with incompetent officials, alarmingly large critters, a paucity of food options (including the Great Beer Crisis), and bizarre local characters, including "Half-Dead Fred" and the so-called Poet Laureate of Tarawa, a British drunkard who's never written a poem in his life.

This book sounds SO funny. It is presented in a rather dry style with an British narrator. I can't WAIT to listen to the whole thing. *fan-girl squee* Also, I here tell that you can now use your iPod for these audio books. I'll be trying that out later, too.

Podcasts

I had a difficult time trying to find a podcast that would work and that wasn't annoying. Unfortunately, some of these podcasts remind me of talk radio, which I can't stand. This one looks interesting http://www.japanesepod101.com/feed.xml but it wouldn't work on the work computer where I'm doing this so I'll have to check it out later.

I'm also going to have to retry bloglines when I get home. Our computers weren't loading the page today. :(

For some reason the computers are also freezing when patrons try to get on myspace. I don't know what's up with myspace this week, but I sure am tired of logging back into the computers 20 times a day. *sigh*

You Tube

YouTube is easy to navigate and search. The advanced search even gives you an option to search by duration of video. Neato. Just this Sunday one of my coworkers found a hula video she wanted to show in her storytime to teach the kids a hula dance. It was a great video, unfortunately, she was out sick for the program. D: But it would've been awesome. ;)


I chose this video because it has a sort of library-esque theme (what with dancing books and all) and I absolutely LOVE stop animation.








In fact, some of my peers may remember the Mtv stop motion intros they used to have in the 90s. One of my favorite performers, Voltaire, made them. :O I never knew that until like, last year. Who would've thought that an artist I discovered in high school created some of the cool and interesting things from my childhood. Weee. Oh btw, he's also very handsome. Icing on the cake and all. :D

Web 2.0 Tools

Etsy

Etsy is an awesome site for artists. All goods are handmade for sale by the craftsman. Craftsmen can easily open shop by simply creating an account. The search functions are a bit organic. Buyers can search for goods by category or by color. Recent creations are displayed in large thumbnails so browsers can view items easily.

There is even a sections called Alchemy where buyers can turn their ideas into reality. Buyers post requests for custom handmade items, and then sellers bid on the opportunity to make the goods.

There are also forums, chat, online workshops, blogs and articles to help craftsmen with their creations and help answer questions from buyers.

I don't really see a direct use for libraries since it's mainly buying and selling art/goods. Librarians could gather inspiration for art programs from the site.

Test Doc

Dear Internet,

I am SO excited to learn about Zoho Writer! I suspect I will end up using almost all of the features for budgeting spreadsheets, presentations, and hopefully to create my own wiki!

I'm going to add a little research section just to explore the formatting tools. I hope you enjoy it.

Love Always,

Jess

Giraffa camelopardalis

Common name: Giraffe

Giraffes are one of the world's tallest mammals. They are well known for their long necks, long legs, and spotted patterns. Giraffes have small "horns" or knobs on top of their heads that grow to be about five inches long. These knobs are used to protect the head in fights. Male giraffes are larger than females. Males weigh between 2,400 and 3,000 pounds and stand up to 19 feet tall! Female giraffes weigh between 1,600 and 2,600 pounds and grow to be 16 feet tall.

Healthy giraffes live about 25 years in the wild. Giraffes can be found in central, eastern and southern Africa. Their long necks help giraffes eat leaves from tall trees, typically acacia trees. If they need to, giraffes can go for several days without water. Instead of drinking, giraffes stay hydrated by the moisture from leaves. Giraffes are hunted for their meat, coat and tails. The tail is prized for good luck bracelets, fly whisks and string for sewing beads. The coat is used for shield coverings. Habitat destruction and fragmentation are also threats to giraffe populations.

This information was edited from http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/giraffe.html

Defenders of Wildlife
1130 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 1-800-385-9712

defenders@mail.defenders.org

Web Apps

Zoho is SUPER GREAT. I'm sure I will enjoy hours of fun playing with all the features. I even posted my test document in my last post. YAY! It's cool that zoho has it's own wiki and chat features.

I usually use Google Docs for organizing event planning and personal notes. So far my wedding is half planned on google docs. Now I just have to get engaged. Har har har.

I've also used an app called Open Office in the past. It's basically an MS Office-esque app that you download from openoffice.org. VERY similar in all aspects to Word. Eerily similar. Like, to the extend that I think MS shut it down... let me check. No, it looks like they are still running. It's obviously not as pretty as Word, but it gets the job done. The only downside is that you have to dl it. :(