Thing 46 - WebJunction

I remember this Thing from the last go around. I have signed up, but I used the wrong email address and created a goofy log in. At first I signed up with my personal email instead of my school email address. That was a bit of a rig-a-ma-roll to get that straighten out that I was indeed a library employee. And then it turns out, you cannot change the email address you registered with.

So now this time around I am trying to log into WebJunction and do my last Thing on the last day and I can't get in. I clicked on the "forgot my password" button and still have not received a email response yet.

I plan on continuing to use WebJunction to take web training courses. It is a fabulous resource available to library employees and it is FREE.

Thing 45 - Cloud Computing

the idea of cloud computing: “The concept of cloud computing is one of a user sitting at a terminal taking advantage of services, storage space, and resources provided somewhere else - on another computer, through an Internet connection.”

I find I am already doing this through iGoogle, Flickr, etc... But to switch 100% to cloud computing. I don't think I can make that leap. I don't necessarily think my data is all that important, but to put it in somebody else's hands is not a risk I am willing to take.

Google Docs is fabulous and I love it for creating documents and sharing them with colleagues. But it still can't hold a candle to Microsoft Office.

I am rather intrigued by Web OS, but this is the first time I have heard about it. I will check this one out further. I have used Remote Desktop Connection, but always for work purposes and related to the tech side of my job not the library end of it.

Thing 44 - The Economy

This thing doesn't really apply to the media center, but there is a lot of good information out there. I liked the calculators available at mymoney.gov. These resources will be good to recommend to the social studies teachers and students.

The simple explanation video is worth a look too. Keep getting the information out there and hopefully, eventually it will sink in! Don't borrow money you can't afford to pay back.

Selling stuff online is a breeze too. I have done the ebay thing, right now we have a motorcycle listed on Craig's List too. Selling stuff is definitely buyer beware and seller beware. There are a lot of dishonest people out there looking to scam anyone they can.

Thing 35 - Books 2.0 revisited

I have to highly recommend shelfari.com. This is one site I keep going back to. I have entered about 150 books I have read so far. I even had my 10 year old and my 8 year old sign up. It is fun to track the books that you read and get suggested titles.

Thing 43 - Online TV & Video

Yes, people I really am old. I don't even have much time for TV anymore. I do watch PBS kids with my children. I like Arthur, The Electric Company, and Ruff Ruffman. I also catch Law & Order SVU reruns on USA. Honestly, I have never watched an episode of 30 Rock, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol....etc. I do check out a lot of DVDs from my public library. Everyone get the most out of your library card. Great River Regional Library has the biggest selection of movies, even more than Hennepin County Library. But, I digress.

I am not a 100% total dork. I have been to Hulu before. I was searching for a Jerry Springer episode after I heard a former Rockford High School student had been on the show. So there I was watching Jerry Springer on the computer. I didn't find the episode I wanted to watch, but I did see Jerry had adapted his show to please the audience. They don't even provide the "guests" chairs anymore. I guess it is much easier to bitch slap someone standing up.

Thing 42 - Music 2.0

Wow, I had previously thought myself old. I don't listen to music on the radio much anymore. I always tell people you are old when you hear a new song on the radio and say "what the **** is this crap!"

But I have once again encountered a Thing I already am utilizing. I have an account on Pandora Radio and find it pretty cool. You can set up "radio stations" and vote on the content if you like it or not. And actually that is the downfall of Pandora radio too. You have to click on stuff once in a while or the music stops playing. The other downfall of Pandora is it is a huge suck on the bandwidth, so naturally is is blocked at school.

So, I also started poking around on the lyrics websites. You ever had a song that has plagued you for years about what the lyrics are. Problem solved!! Just look it up on the internet. I have finally figured out the chorus to Beck's "Loser" is "Soy un perdedor", which is just the Spanish translation of "I'm a loser". Does that mean I am a loser? Come on, who doesn't remember playing a record and picking up the needle and playing the same part of the song over and over again trying to learn the words to your favorite song. Or does that just mean I am an old loser. haha......

Thing 41- Mash Up Your Life

Hmmm. Sounds good in theory. If I am thinking about it right, friendfeed.com is like an RSS feed for friends I already have in email, facebook and whatever. I only ended up with 3 contacts; ALA, Barack Obama, and Debra Hamel. I like the concept and would like to utilize it, but I don't think it will work unless you have contacts also using it. Most of the stuff that came through was twitter and I already have a twitter feed on my iGoogle page.

Thing 40 - Mashups on the Web

This is from booktour.com (utilizing google earth). What fun! You can use Google Earth to find author's speaking engagements.

Thing 39 - Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling, online scrapbooking, screencasting, etc.... All the Things are starting to overlap. I suppose that is just nature of the beast. There are so many resources on the web it gets to be overwhelming....and exciting.

I am trying to fly through these last few things before the deadline, so I don't have an example.

Thing 38 - Screencasting

Wow!! What an incredible tool. I only wish I had an idea to actually make a screencast and post it. So far, I have only been to screencast-o-matic, but imagine the capabilities. At work the Art teacher had purchased Snapz-Pro, so I was rather impressed with myself that I actually knew what screencasting was. I will keep pondering the possibilities and hopefully play with this tool some more. I am still amazed it is free.