Thing 23

I just completed the survey. I think that was by far the easiest "thing" to complete. I am happy this is over but also kinda sad. It gave me something to look forward to each week. Now I have to go on looking for hope somewhere else... goodbye my Things..

Thing 22

I can't believe I made it this far!! I am patting myself on the back as I write this...that is how talented I have become. Typing and patting...its like rubbing your tummy and patting your head only its the newer version..similar to Web 2.0.

Looking back at my Thing 1 post, I can honestly laugh at myself. I wrote about how hard it was to use www.blogger.com...now I see how bad off I was! Blogger.com has become like second nature to use. It's easy and user friendly. What was I thinking? I have definitely learned a lot about different gadgets and new terminology and I feel a bit more at ease. Also, I don't have that look of a caveman who has never been out in the wild. I am an intelligent robot now. Robots are smart...right?

I never thought I would make it this far and I only held on because of the competition and not wanting to bomb at something. I am glad that I was able to keep up with the rest of the 23 Thing Participants and I can't wait to see what other challenges come my way. It's a great feeling to be in the technology loop.

Now for the last, but not least, Thing 23...

Thing 21

Wow, I love the assignment calculator! Being a college student can be particularly hard especially staying on top of assignments. I am one of those that works best under pressure so I wait until the last minute. The assignment calculator might actually help me plan things out sooner rather than later. It emails you alerts and keeps you on task..kinda like my parents used to do. Sometimes, lets face it, we all need a mom breathing down our necks to get work done. I'd like to think assignment calculator does that for you. If for nothing else, it reminds you that you only have so many days left before it's due and sends you email alerts each day on what you should be doing. I think it's a handy tool that every student, and adult could use in various ways; if not for school work, then work-work, or even a reminder for house work. I could use this for birthday reminders and all sorts of things, but I wont abuse it! There's widgets and gidgets for those things as well. By the end of this thing I will be a trained robot led only by widgets. Has Neflin added in turning me into a robot??...hmmm....I will have to Ask Jeeves what he thinks.

Btw, I found out a fun little fact about Google.com...everyone type in "Where is Chuck Norris" and click "I'm feeling Lucky" and see what it says. It cracks me up everytime.

Thing 20

Holy cow, Thing 20 is long!

I read the amazon article about loaning out Kindles. First of all, I think in our library this would be bad news. Most people have a hard time returning a book or Playaway undamaged...I can't imagine what would happen if a Kindle were broken or just went "missing". It's too expensive to loan out in my opinion. With sites like Booksinmyphone.com, you can still appeal to the public and those who can't afford a Kindle. The only problem I found with Booksinmyphone.com is that it doesn't have every book. I typed in several titles and got no results. However, it does have a lot of the classics like "20,000 Leagues under the sea" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth".

I'm intrested to try this out and see how it comes up on my phone. It looks like it uses an external memory disc and once inserted into your computer, stores the book on the card and then you just insert the card into your phone. Fairly simple as long as your phone is up to date with the latest technology.If not it will use up internet air time trying to download which could cost a pretty penny.

In our library, we have a database that patrons can use called Tumblebooks. It reads books to children and has simple tests and games for them to complete after reading it. It seems to be very effective and has a good number of books to choose from, including chapter books for older children.

Thing 19

Ning was first introduced to me a year or so ago by a hip librarian who has since left for greater library things. She set up a NING account for us to use to connect on books, movies, etc. It was called Libraries and Books and Discussions

I never got to use it much at work but it was a fun way for all of us to come together when we couldn't talk because of conflicting work schedules and whatnot.

Since then, I haven't really gotten into them because Myspace and Facebook take up enough of my time, and I don't like to sit on the computer for hours anymore like I used to.

Thing 17

Ok...so I admit, I skipped ahead and forgot Thing 17. But, at least I noticed!

I used to listen to Podcasts all the time. A lot of churches put podcasts out and that's when I first heard about them. When my husband and I moved away from our church and had yet to find another one, we used to download the podcasts onto our Ipods and listen to them while traveling or excercising. It was a great way to stay updated with what our old church was doing. Now, I only listen to them when I miss a day at church, but it's comforting to know that they are still there if I should ever need them. :)

I use the Itunes directory to find my podcasts because I only listen to them on my IPod so it makes more sense. I find that their directory is easy to use and has a lot of variety. Also, a lot of them have free downloads so you can listen to almost anything.

Thing 18

I have been Myspacing and Facebooking since 2005 or earlier. I visit them daily at home and I find it a great way to stay in touch with friends who are far away and even to find old friends. They have great search engines to find people from your school or hometown. Now, they even do the searching for you and give you a list of people you may know. It's usually 99% right too!

For this thing I visited Alachua Counties Library Myspace and found it to be very interesting. They have adds for events and pictures of things they have done in their library. It's also a great way to show people what your library looks like. I love seeing the insides of other libraries to see what it's like where other people work. It's also a cool way to get library members together. Alachua county has many friends, most whom seem to have some library connection. Posting blogs or event invitations are good ways to get information out to friends and also to get an idea of how many to expect in attendance.

I wish our library system would get on myspace so we could connect with other libaries and maybe do a joint effort one day!