Thing 14: Library Thing

I have been waiting to get to Thing 14! I can't wait to get started with Library Thing - I have heard so much about it! I have signed up as a lifetime member and ordered my cuecat scanner - I was planning to borrow my friend Kathy's cat scanner, but decided that we would both need them for the summer and 6 hours is too far to drive just for a scanner. Alas - I will have to work on thing 14 tomorrow. It has gotten far too late already. I am still wondering about those 15 minutes I heard about at the beginning of 23 Things on a Stick. I am having a lot of fun though - and learning so much (mostly things I didn't know anything about too!).

Just a quickie sharing moment!

I wanted to share for a moment - I went to a BER seminar on 3/5/08 - the presenter was talking about buying software to make READ posters for libraries and classrooms and I was so excited to share what I have learned about BigHugeLabs and ImageChef. I also spent a few minutes after class to talk to the presenter about the 23 Things on a Stick program. She was very excited about what I was telling her. I also told her about a YouTube video that I had seen about the book Looking for Alaska, she had been talking about censorship and parent complaints in the library. You can check it out by clicking this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHMPtYvZ8tM

Thing 13: On-Line Productivity Tools

I have changed my homepage (on my home computer) to igoogle - I am constantly finding things that I had no idea were out there - of course I wasn't looking. I had a great time customizing my igoogle with word of the day, joke of the day, news, weather, and the like. I even have it set up with a background that changes according to the time of day - now every time I get on my computer I get up to date information about things I am chosing to have displayed. I like it, I plan to keep it as my homepage.
I am sure that this would be a great tool for the library, but it would have to be done on each computer and that is a task that is truly daunting, not to mention that each computer would then be customized only for one person. I am enjoying the new homepage and the features that it allows me to take advantage of.
I went to google calendars...time sink! I think this will be a useful tool, now that I have it all set up - I even added my new rabbit's birthday! I will be able to view this calendar from any computer instead of always having to carry around my paper calendar - as long as I can remember to update the on-line one.
I checked out both the list sites - I have signed up for Remember the Milk. I LOVE to make lists - if the calendar was a time sink for me - list making will be off the charts - I will go back to Remember the Milk and work on lists after I have finished my 23 Things on a Stick.
I looked at Backpack and decided that I would look more closely at that tool when I had both a plan and a lot of time. It seems like it would be useful for students working on group projects. I will have to check it out more.
I have recently been introduced to CutePDF and it is a great tool. I put a lot of documents on the reading club website and CutePDF has become invaluable to me. It is viewable by everyone, the program is available at no cost, the download is not too time consuming, and it is easy to use. I highly recommend it.
I glanced at Zamzar - I was also just introduced to a program called media convert. I will have to see which one the students like better.

Thing 12: Do you Digg?

Digg: I looked at this site - it seems to have a lot of fun articles, a lot of videos and photos, but wouldn't be my first choice if I was looking for news.

Reddit: I looked here too, but didn't stay.

Newsvine & Mixx: I liked these sites - they seem to have news.

Zombies, Schmombies! Teen Girls Are Vamping It Up! The New York Observer

I signed up for Mixx and shared the article above. I am excited to learn about yet another source of information that I have not made available to myself, but am somewhat overwhelmed by the idea of soooooo many sources of information - who has this kind of time, so I guess I see them as a productivity detractor. You could spend hours just checking out the various news sites - learn lots about the news, but not get much done.

I think that this would be great as a tool for students looking for current events or news articles - as long as they can stay focused.

Thing 11:

This del.icio.us is great! I work from home and school and am constantly frustrated by trying to remember which computer has what information stored on it. With del.icio.us I can have the same information on both! Go to http://del.icio.us/ and check it out. I am sure this tool will be very helpful for students working together.

Thing 9: comment to Kathy M - Inside a Dog

My computer at home doesn't allow me to post comments or reply to posted comments - don't know why - I'll figure it out later (maybe). I have a hard time getting my posts on from here - I must have some java issue.
I tried to edit your google doc and was told I didn't have permission - I didn't see where to ask for it either - I think it's a great idea - I just don't know how to add.
Spell is one of my favorite things so far - yours too from the looks of it. I like how you add links and photos to so many of your posts -