This is another interesting idea. I did find a couple of sites I didn't know about previously but I don't know about anything really practical use wise. Maybe I'm just too entrenched in my websurfing ways.
I will put this site down as nice to know about and keep it in the back of my mind because as I said I found a couple of sites I was previously unaware of so you never know when I may need it again in the future.
Signing off!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Task 12 - LibriVox
I think this project has good potential but is slightly hamstrung in that it can only deal with pre 1923 works at the time of writing.
Still it has works from authors such as Alcott, Verne, Wells, Voltaire and Shakespeare to name but a few so if you are technically savvy enough and you want to load a free version of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" onto your mp3 player this is the site for you.
Signing off!
Still it has works from authors such as Alcott, Verne, Wells, Voltaire and Shakespeare to name but a few so if you are technically savvy enough and you want to load a free version of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" onto your mp3 player this is the site for you.
Signing off!
Task 11 - Google Books
I liked Google Books an awful lot more than Library Thing. I thought it was easier to use and quicker.
It's potential is enormous as a research tool especially with the announcement that all the law suits have been settled.
Whilst I won't be building up the library I will be keeping an eye on this one in the future.
Signing off!
It's potential is enormous as a research tool especially with the announcement that all the law suits have been settled.
Whilst I won't be building up the library I will be keeping an eye on this one in the future.
Signing off!
Task 10 - Library Thing
The first thing I thought when I joined Library Thing was "Blimey first time" as my user name got accepted. Totally off topic I know but I was amazed.
Once I had joined and started adding books I couldn't get past how slow it was. Perhaps I was on at the wrong time but I can't see myself sitting there and adding in every book I owned. I'd rather be reading them.
Here is the link to my 5 book library (I actually own more than that)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/davidamiles
Signing off!
Once I had joined and started adding books I couldn't get past how slow it was. Perhaps I was on at the wrong time but I can't see myself sitting there and adding in every book I owned. I'd rather be reading them.
Here is the link to my 5 book library (I actually own more than that)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/davidamiles
Signing off!
Task 9 - Library RSS Feeds
Cannot honestly say I liked this task. It was very similar to task 8 in that it involves finding RSS Feeds. Yes it introduced us to new search sites for locating feeds but I found the sheer quantity of information overwhelming.
I think the problem I have with searching through RSS feeds is, to use an old and cliched phrase, information overload. There is just too much. I probably need to spend more time with topix or syndic8 and learn to use them correctly. Then again I probably won't.
Signing off!
I think the problem I have with searching through RSS feeds is, to use an old and cliched phrase, information overload. There is just too much. I probably need to spend more time with topix or syndic8 and learn to use them correctly. Then again I probably won't.
Signing off!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Task 8 - RSS feeds
Well this has been an interesting lesson. I have heard of RSS feeds for many months now but never bothered to look into them before.
Using the Bloglines reader it was very simple to subscribe to 10 different feeds and to be able to check the results. I may, when I have more time, check out some different readers as I noticed that Bloglines does not come up in many of the default reader lists.
Anyway it was very simple to do and may find uses for it particularly when it comes to training.
I probably won't choose to use it at home though as I kind of like browsing all the different sites and actually typing in the addresses. It just seems lazy to have the whole net (well you know what I mean) brought to you. I know this is crazy but I can't help it.
Signing off!
Using the Bloglines reader it was very simple to subscribe to 10 different feeds and to be able to check the results. I may, when I have more time, check out some different readers as I noticed that Bloglines does not come up in many of the default reader lists.
Anyway it was very simple to do and may find uses for it particularly when it comes to training.
I probably won't choose to use it at home though as I kind of like browsing all the different sites and actually typing in the addresses. It just seems lazy to have the whole net (well you know what I mean) brought to you. I know this is crazy but I can't help it.
Signing off!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Task 19 - You Tube
What a great course to do this is.
There won't be too many other days when I can sit at work browsing You Tube and legitimately claim to be working. I started off having a look at some videos from the Chris Moyles BBC Radio 1 show. You either love him or hate him but since very few people (statistically) from Australia will know of him I chose not to include any links here.
I did discover though that it can be best to press the play button and then pause the video playback so that the loading gets a chance to get ahead of the feed. Otherwise the video keeps stopping and starting to make for a very interrupted viewing experience.
After that I searched for a particular advertisement that I remember very distinctly from the 70's. One that every now and again I still sing to myself. It took me about 10 minutes to find it. I suppose all credit should go to the advertising executive who came up with the campaign if I can remember it 30 years later. So for your enjoyment here is a link to a very old Tic Tac commercial. Remember it is a Clean, Fresh Explosion of Mint! (Note: You may have to turn the volume up).
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4d6m7TbLvvw
Also interesting to see some fairly famous actors (male and female) of the era in there.
As a side note (and possibly a bit controversially) from there I found a link to an almost as old TAB Cola commercial from the early 80's. It was my first exposure to Elle McPherson and as a 13 year old I loved this commercial.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LhGJvGhIzaw
You won't get such blatant sexism like this in commercials these days (unless of course it's a Diet Coke ad). As for the guy on the beach all I can say is what an understanding wife/partner he has.
Signing off!
There won't be too many other days when I can sit at work browsing You Tube and legitimately claim to be working. I started off having a look at some videos from the Chris Moyles BBC Radio 1 show. You either love him or hate him but since very few people (statistically) from Australia will know of him I chose not to include any links here.
I did discover though that it can be best to press the play button and then pause the video playback so that the loading gets a chance to get ahead of the feed. Otherwise the video keeps stopping and starting to make for a very interrupted viewing experience.
After that I searched for a particular advertisement that I remember very distinctly from the 70's. One that every now and again I still sing to myself. It took me about 10 minutes to find it. I suppose all credit should go to the advertising executive who came up with the campaign if I can remember it 30 years later. So for your enjoyment here is a link to a very old Tic Tac commercial. Remember it is a Clean, Fresh Explosion of Mint! (Note: You may have to turn the volume up).
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4d6m7TbLvvw
Also interesting to see some fairly famous actors (male and female) of the era in there.
As a side note (and possibly a bit controversially) from there I found a link to an almost as old TAB Cola commercial from the early 80's. It was my first exposure to Elle McPherson and as a 13 year old I loved this commercial.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LhGJvGhIzaw
You won't get such blatant sexism like this in commercials these days (unless of course it's a Diet Coke ad). As for the guy on the beach all I can say is what an understanding wife/partner he has.
Signing off!
Task 7 - Commenting on blogs and blogging on technology
This week I have had to post comments on other peoples blogs. I found this a bit strange at first because it felt a bit like wading into someones private conversation uninvited. Still after the first couple that feeling faded and it is very simple to do.
Apart from that and totally separate; there was an article in the paper today about a new high resolution commercial satellite that will be supplying images to Google earth. The article goes on to mention that "Because of national security concerns, GeoEye-1's government clients will receive higher resolution photos than commercial clients such as Google".
Now what I would love to know is just how hi-res will the government photos be. I know I will never get to find out but with examples like this one taken of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania; (credit to GeoEye Satellite Image www.geoeye.com); taken from over 400 miles up, the mind boggles at just what the government quality ones would look like.
Click on the image for a full size view.
Signing off!
Apart from that and totally separate; there was an article in the paper today about a new high resolution commercial satellite that will be supplying images to Google earth. The article goes on to mention that "Because of national security concerns, GeoEye-1's government clients will receive higher resolution photos than commercial clients such as Google".Now what I would love to know is just how hi-res will the government photos be. I know I will never get to find out but with examples like this one taken of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania; (credit to GeoEye Satellite Image www.geoeye.com); taken from over 400 miles up, the mind boggles at just what the government quality ones would look like.
Click on the image for a full size view.
Signing off!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Picture to Sketch - Task 6 - Flikr Mashups
Today in my spare time I have played around with some of the Flikr Mashups and 3rd party software that is available.
The one I played with the most was the Picture to Sketch facility available at http://www.dumpr.net/sketch.php. It is a very easy piece of software as you just navigate to a picture of your choice on your computer and within seconds it turns it into a pencil type sketch. I experimented with humans, plants, animals and objects. It worked on all of them.
The results of my closeup can be seen below.
Signing Off!
The one I played with the most was the Picture to Sketch facility available at http://www.dumpr.net/sketch.php. It is a very easy piece of software as you just navigate to a picture of your choice on your computer and within seconds it turns it into a pencil type sketch. I experimented with humans, plants, animals and objects. It worked on all of them.
The results of my closeup can be seen below.
Signing Off!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Task 5 - Flickr - Eruption of Anak Krakatau volcano
Found this great picture of a volcano in Indonesia erupting. The photo was taken in November 2007 by someone called volcanodiscovery so all credit to them.
This has been a really interesting task with many amazining and varied photos to find. Also interesting to see some of the comments left by various librarians in some of the librarian related blogs.
I created my own account as well and uploaded two test photos with tags although I don't remember where I got them or know who took them so all credit to the anonymous photographers.
I think I will be paying more visits to flickr in the future.
Signing off!
This has been a really interesting task with many amazining and varied photos to find. Also interesting to see some of the comments left by various librarians in some of the librarian related blogs.
I created my own account as well and uploaded two test photos with tags although I don't remember where I got them or know who took them so all credit to the anonymous photographers.
I think I will be paying more visits to flickr in the future.
Signing off!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Task 16 Wiki collaboration
Now I really am on a roll and have jumped straight up to task 16 and made an entry on a Wiki page. Having undertaken the wiki training this was a very easy task to do.
Signing off!
Signing off!
Task 4 - Registering the Blog
Ah good old task 4. I love easy ones like this. I have now registered the blog and am blogging it.
Yay.
Signing off!
Yay.
Signing off!
Task 2 comments
Some comments on the second task concerning 7.5 Habits of Successful Lifelong Learning (and this is the shortened version of the name (blimey!)).
The easiest of those habits for me is habit 2 which is the taking responsibility for your learning. I have always been one for signing up for courses and finishing them and participating in the classes.
The hardest is habit 3 which is viewing problems as a challenge. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking problems are just that and not a learning experience. Now that I have recognised this though I can do something about it.
Signing off!
The easiest of those habits for me is habit 2 which is the taking responsibility for your learning. I have always been one for signing up for courses and finishing them and participating in the classes.
The hardest is habit 3 which is viewing problems as a challenge. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking problems are just that and not a learning experience. Now that I have recognised this though I can do something about it.
Signing off!
Welcome
Yes not a very original start to a new blog but then it took me somewhere between 10 and 15 attempts to find a name that hadn't already been taken.
Here is where I will be tracking my progress throughout the University of Queensland's 23 Things Online learning experience.
The creation of this blog is the culmination of the first 3 tasks in the programme and is remarkably easy. I will leave a separate post regarding task 2 and the 7.5 Habits of Lifelong Learning.
Before I sign off; for those of you who don't know Douglas Adams and his amazing Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series this is where I got the name of the blog from (and it's quite a lot shorter than "How many roads must a man walk down" which was the other alternative).
Signing off!
Here is where I will be tracking my progress throughout the University of Queensland's 23 Things Online learning experience.
The creation of this blog is the culmination of the first 3 tasks in the programme and is remarkably easy. I will leave a separate post regarding task 2 and the 7.5 Habits of Lifelong Learning.
Before I sign off; for those of you who don't know Douglas Adams and his amazing Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series this is where I got the name of the blog from (and it's quite a lot shorter than "How many roads must a man walk down" which was the other alternative).
Signing off!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)