Saturday, July 28, 2007

Thing #8, RSS Feeds, Part II

I am not feeling too creative today!!

Tasks:

Create bloglines account-Done
Add various RSS feeds to my bloglines-Done (I really like ones from the CDC & FDA)
Add some participants blogs-Done
Add at least 3 Library Feeds-1 Done. I subscribed to Library Garden and was able to do this successfully at home. I tried to subscribe to Unshelved while here at work and I got an error message.

My thoughts on RSS and newsreaders:

My reactions are mixed. My supervisor, Jennifer, showed me how to RSS within Yahoo Beta Mail which I have to admit was much simpler than going to bloglines. I already have a yahoo account so it is MUCH easier to just look at my feeds while I am already in my mail. So, I am kinda annoyed that I would have to go to yet another website to find news. In the same breath, going to only one website to go all of my news from various sources IS much easier than navigating through all of the sites in and of themselves. So maybe I shouldn't bite the hand that feeds (ha, ha, sorry for the pun) me.

Back to yahoo--so with www.my.yahoo.com I had already experienced having an RSS subscription. The package was just prettier. I don't like the fact that the source goes away once it is no longer a 'new' feed item.

Verdict: The jury is still out (at least until my creativity & enthusiasm returns).

P.S. How can I use this technology in work or personal life? Obviously due to the sheer amount of information that is available, it is useful to have one central location that would aggregate headlines, blogs, etc to allow me to stay in the loop. I just would be afraid that I might miss a gem hidden within a website, if all I did was look at the 'sale items'.

P.S.S. How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology? I still need to mull on this. More later.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Thing #8 RSS Feeds/Bloglines

I had already done this one. I think I did it the same day as the tech fair.........apparently I had subscribed to several co-workers blogs which had several posts that I obviously have not read. At least for the blogs, I like having all of a blogger's newest posts listed on one site, but having a new window open every time you click on the actual blog link is a pain. To like bloglines more I am going to have to actually use it more.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Thing #7 Thoughts on Technology

What a bargain! I remember when I got my first computer. The craze at that time (at least the craze in my head) was to have one of the greeting card creator programs so that I could make my own greeting cards. Now I can make my own greeting cards, magazine covers, trading cards, websites, blogs, etc. all for free on the WORLD WIDE WEB. With the web, we are no longer tied to our individual computers or desktops.

Thing #6--Flickr, Mashups & Third Party Sites

Okay I have looked through some of the mashups & third party sites and I have found a few that I like and that have potential. The problem is that I have my photos on my desktop at HOME so I will have to wait until I get there to complete it......................which segues into the next 'Thing' (see my next post).

Welcome Back Stranger!

This is what my blog says to me as I try to log on and have forgotten my username & password. It has been a while since I have posted. (I knew this was going to be a problem). On to the next Thing....................................