Forgotten Bookmarks

Found this interesting site, Forgotten Bookmarks

The blogger works at a used and rare bookstore and buys books from people everyday.  She blogs about the personal, funny, heartbreaking and weird things she finds in the books.

Just for Fun

Good Application for Twitter

Earlier this week the Abuquerque, NM police started Tweeting their accident and emergency calls.  They asked people not to view while driving but to be sure and check before going out on the roads to locate any problem areas.  This seems like a very good use of Twitter.

Advanced Stuff

Being the self-proclaimed Techo Geek that I am I couldn't resist the challenge to try some of the advanced stuff.  As you can see I've embeded the Twitter posts into my blog.  I first tried to add a gadget from blogger, but theirs were IMHO cheesy - then it occured to me that I could go to Twitter and see if they had an app or gadget - sure enough they did and it was very easy to use - the rest is history. 

Now I'm watching and waiting for our group to post many insightful and humorous "tweets."

Resistance is Feudal...

The One I've Been Waiting For - Lesson 3 - Twitter

Ok, here I am at Twitter.  Probably just like you, I've been racking my brain to figure out why Twitter is so popular - why do people love it so much?  It is strangely compelling, there's something about sending random thoughts out into cyber space that is lots of fun.  But really, what is it good for?  Does anyone out there, even my family or closest friends, really want to know what I had for breakfast or that I just walked from my office to the loo? 

Part of the requirements of this lesson are to list three things that Twitter could be useful for - and we can't be negative - so this is a hard one.  (inject humor here)  Here's what I've come up with so far:

1. It's good for wasting time in a fun way - and I mean that in the most positive way - I happen to LOVE wasting time.
2. If you had a group of friends or co-workers who were always plugged in it could be an effective way to communicate breaking news, events, etc.
3. Oh gee whiz Jay - does it have to be three things?  ...hear whining plea here...this is soooo hard!

I'm going to continue to think about it, I'm sure someone as intelligent as I (going for humor here) will be able to come up with one more positive aspect of Twitter.  Wish me luck, I'm going back inside my brain and hope to return with an enlightened thought for a third use.

This is not over...

Lesson 2 RSS Feeds - iGoogle

1. What is RSS and what is it for?

RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication and it's a tool used for keeping track of sites one might be interested in reading on a continuing basis. A "one stop shopping center" for all feeds from sites you subscribe to.

2. Describe how to locate an RSS feed.

You simply find the icons that will be present on a site that offers feeds of it's content.

3. Talk about a feature you liked or disliked on Google Reader and/or your thoughts on the user interface in general.

Basically I like anything Google and the Reader is no exception. It's very straight forward and easy to use - even for a first timer like me.

4. Do you prefer Outlook or Google Reader? (Wait a few days to see how it works before you answer. You'll need to collect a few feeds before you can see how it works.)

The jury is still out on this one. I'm leaning toward Google but I'm trying to keep an open mind about Outlook.

5. Did you try out iGoogle? If so, what did you like or dislike about it?

Screen Shot of my iGoogle Page

Everyone knows I'm hopelessly addicted to technology so I'm sure it won't come as a shock to know that I love Google and just about anything from Google, so iGoogle was a slam dunk. Making my page was lots of fun. The hardest part was picking the "apps."  There were so many to choose from - I never did get all the way through the options for header pictures. The only problem is that I'm so used to using my Yahoo homepage when I tried to switch to iGoogle it drove me crazy. Not sure if I'll force myself to overcome or go back to Yahoo.


6. Talk about your experiences locating the feeds on the other sites mentioned and whether you have subscribed to any. Were you able to locate them all? Which ones did you have trouble with, if any?

Everything worked fine. Found the icons - subscribed to some - already subscribed to others so I have an extensive list. The hard part is remembering to go to Reader and check them all out. Keeping track of all this information takes on a life of its own. I might rethink all of my interests. :o)